LOS ANGELES, CA– The Kings fell a note short in the shootout against the Blues, 3-2.
After an embarrassing 4-1 loss at St. Louis and the Kings had a chance to avenge that performance. However, the Blues pulled out the victory in the shootout.
This neck-and-neck battle all the way through came down to two areas where the Kings struggled. The power plays and the shots-on-goal opportunities were heavily in the Blues’ favor.
The Blues received four power plays and were able to convert one of them into a goal. On the other hand, the Kings only had two chances and were not able to score a power-play goal.
Offensively, the Kings could not generate enough chances to score on the St. Louis defense. The Blues had 30 shots on goal while the Kings only had 23.
With Jordan Binnington recording a .913 save percentage, then fewer shots for the Kings made the Los Angeles offense anemic.
Similar to the previous four games, the Kings had 2 goals or less and were not able to keep pace with the other team.
“You know 60 games in we don’t score a ton, that’s obvious, so if you’re not going to score a ton you can’t give up much,” said Coach Hiller. “I dont think think trying to play a different way is going to help us score more I think we generate kind of as a five-man unit.”
Although the Kings lost, they stayed neck and neck in a game where they saw a great performance from their goaltender. Darcy Kuemper saved 28 shots and recorded a .933 save percentage.
This loss to the Blues currently sends the Kings on a five-game losing streak. However, Los Angeles will get another chance against St. Louis.
On Saturday, the Kings will get a rematch against the Blues at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings must avoid losing to the Blues for the third time in an eight-day span.
