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Blues Vs. Kings Recap: Snake After Dark

No Kings, no. - Jake Allen, probably.

By Justin42
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Blues Lineup:

Forwards: Jaden Schwartz/Paul Stastny/Vladimir Tarasenko

Alexander Steen/Patrik Berglund/David Perron

Dmitrij Jaskin/Ivan Barbashev/Magnus Paajarvi

Scottie Upshall/Kyle Brodziak/Ryan Reaves

Defensemen: Alex Pietrangelo/Jay Bouwmeester

Robert Bortuzzo/Carl Gunnarsson

Colton Parayko/Joel Edmundson

Goaltender: Jake Allen

Game Highlights:

The Blues hadn't had much luck at Staples Center. The last time the Blues won in LA in regulation? March 17...of 2011. As noted above, Paul Stastny and Colton Parayko were back in the lineup. Jori Lehtera didn't even make the trip to L.A. It was reported that he might not even join the team for this five game road swing.

First Period:

Jake Allen was busy in this one. The first period saw the Blues take a penalty early on. The Kings didn't score on it, but it set the tone for the rest of the period. With a little over seven minutes gone, Allen makes a kick save on Adrian Kempe to keep the game scoreless.

The Blues weren't getting outplayed by any means, but were getting outshot on the scoreboard. The final totals for shots on goal in the first: 8 for the Kings and 7 for the Blues. The Blues made a late push but weren't able to find a way to beat Kings' starter Jonathan Quick.

Second Period:

The Blues had a powerplay at the start of the period, but the most they could get out of it was a post. Then it was all Kings after that. However, much like the first period, Allen came to play in the second. The Kings had multiple chances early on, but couldn't find their way on to the score sheet.

Just attempt after attempt. Allen wasn't going to break though. More like they were bending to the point of breaking, but never broke.

Despite all of the Kings shots on goal, the Blues were the team that scored first. Quick's best friend David Perron, breaks the scoreless tie with a goal right in front of the net. Quick made the initial save, but Perron picked up the loose puck and stuffed it into the back of the net. Honestly, the Blues were lucky that this wasn't blown dead sooner. Perron tallies number 14 on the year.

The final shot totals: 21 shots (no that's not a typo) for the Kings, and just 9 shots on goal for the Blues. Not only did the Blues give up a ton of shots in the period, Dmitrij Jaskin left the ice after colliding with Robert Bortuzzo. Jaskin didn't return, and the only thing that was reported was that it was an upper body injury. Jaskin had his head down and slammed face first at what looked full speed into Bortuzzo's body.

Third Period:

The Blues doubled their lead right off the bat in the third. While on the powerplay, Paajarvi tips a Patrik Berglund shot past Quick. At first it had looked like it was Berglund's goal, but Paajarvi got a piece of it. It's Paajarvi's fifth goal of the year. He's been playing some decent hockey since his most recent call up.

The Blues gave up a late goal after the Kings pulled Quick. Dustin Brown scores his 11th of the year on a loose puck in front. Allen was reaching for it, but Brown got to it first. There was really nothing Allen could do about it.

Steen adds an empty net goal with right around seven seconds left to seal it up for the Blues. This was goal number 14 for Steen.

The Blues take this one 3-1 in what was about as close as you could get to playoff hockey in the middle of March. The Blues got outshot by the Kings 39-26, but got the goaltending they needed to steal a win on the road. Next game is Wednesday in Anaheim. Who needs sleep right?

From The Twitter Machine:

There's still a lot of hockey left, but this was too good to pass up.

Poor Wil Wheaton

Jake Allen, savior of games and also a comedian. (Side note: does the video look weird to anyone else?)

Player of the Game:

Sleep.