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 Los Angeles erupted for nine goals in a rout of Boston to being its
trek but has been limited to two or fewer in its past three defeats,
including Tuesday's 3-1 setback at NHL-best Washington. "Maybe we
just scored too many goals in Boston, now we are coming up a bit
short," Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin said. "We just have to
capitalize on some chances." The Blues extended their winning streak
to three games with a 2-1 overtime victory over Dallas on Tuesday to
draw within five points of the Central Division-leading Stars. St.
Louis has split a pair of decisions with Los Angeles this season,
with the road team prevailing each time.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE KINGS (33-20-3): Marian Gaborik was starting to heat up
with four goals in a seven-game span before he was placed on injured
reserve Saturday and Los Angeles has felt his absence, scoring once
in the last two contests. "It just comes down to bearing down and
putting pucks in the net, getting more bodies in front and banging
in dirty goals," defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We don’t have to
score the pretty goals all the time, just little garbage goals
around the net." Goaltender Jonathan Quick returned from a
three-game injury absence with 29 saves at Washington.
[to top of second column] |
ABOUT THE BLUES (33-17-9): Rookie defenseman Joel Edmundson is the
only player in the lineup that has yet to score a goal and is mired
in a 10-game point drought, but coach Ken Hitchcock has no
complaints for the second-round draft pick's play. “He’s a more
fluid player now,” Hitchcock said. “I think things are coming at him
a little slower and it shows. He’s got great instincts. He’s not fun
to play against and that element in his game is starting to become
more consistent and it’s really helping us.” Netminder Brian Elliott
has made 15 straight starts since Jake Allen was hurt, posting a
10-3-2 mark.
OVERTIME
1. The Blues have killed off all 18 penalties over the past four
games and 31-of-32 this month.
2. Kings C Anze Kopitar, who has 11 points in his last nine games,
has 12 goals and 40 points in 35 contests versus St. Louis.
3. The Blues assigned F Dmitrij Jaskin to the Chicago Wolves of the
American Hockey League.
PREDICTION: Kings 3, Blues 2
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