ST. LOUIS—The Kings peppered St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington with 41 shots on goal Wednesday night, March 13, at Enterprise Center but solved him only once in a 3–1 defeat that opened a three-game road trip.
St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington made 40 saves in a key game in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Kings (33–21–11) are currently in a virtual third-place tie with the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL’s Pacific Division, while the Blues (34–29–3) are trying to close ground in the wild-card race.
Alexey Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours, and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who kicked off a four-game home stand.
Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ goal and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as Los Angeles lost for the third time in five games.
The win moved St. Louis within six points of idle Vegas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have 16 games remaining, while the Golden Knights have 17 left.
Toropchenko gave the Blues a 1–0 lead with 2:30 left in the first period. It was Toropchenko’s second goal in as many games and it snapped a streak of 81 minutes, 10 seconds since Los Angeles had last allowed a goal.
Neighbours made it 2–0 by tapping in a bouncing puck in front of the Kings net at the 1:57 mark of the second period.
Binnington made several tough saves in the second, stopping multiple deflections. He also got help from a goal post.
Saad made it 3–0 with 9:34 left in the third period off a slick tip of a Colton Parayko shot. Kevin Hayes, who was playing in his 700th career game, also got an assist on the goal.
Binnington continued to frustrate the Kings in the third, with a sprawling save on a shot by defenseman Drew Doughty during a mid-period flurry, but Kempe finally found the back of the net with 6:52 left.
Up Next
Kings: Travel to Chicago on Friday night.Blues: Host Minnesota on Saturday night.
