ST. LOUIS_The St. Louis Blues' offensive struggles led to the requisite line tinkering on Saturday which, it turned out, didn't really solve the problem.
The team that has scored 10 goals in its previous five games _ and got six of them in one game _ found another challenge on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings. They were blanked for the first two periods before the one line that stayed the same, Jori Lehtera, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz teamed up for a goal early in the third period.
This time, one goal was enough, as the Blues blanked the Kings 1-0 to snap a two-game losing streak and finish their three-game homestand the same way they finished the three-game trip that led into it, at 1-1-1. The Blues now head back out on the road, playing the Rangers in New York on Tuesday.
Oh, there were chances, but the Blues continue to do well right up until someone has to put the puck into the net. The two biggest ovations of the night came when a video about Bob Plager's number being retired was shown and when it was announced the Indians were up 3-1 on the Cubs.
They finally got something to get excited about on the ice with 16:17 to go in the third period. Lehtera won the puck with a check in the Kings end, Tarasenko did a no-look backhand pass to Lehtera, who crossed it to Schwartz who had a wide open net to shoot at and fired it with a vengeance. Schwartz let out a roar as the puck flew in for his first goal of the season and the first for a Blues forward in 169 minutes, 22 seconds (and an even longer 181:53 since a Blues forward had beaten a goalie). The Kings challenged the play that the Blues were offsides entering the zone, but the goal was confirmed.
The goalies were the stars of the game. Jake Allen had more work, making 20 saves in the first two periods, while the Kings' Peter Budaj had less work but was still tested.
After getting just two goals in the previous two games on this homestand, both by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock moved David Perron up to the top line along with Paul Stastny and Alexander Steen, moving Robby Fabbri down to the line with Patrik Berglund and Nail Yakupov.
What mattered most was the play of Allen and the team's penalty kill. The penalty kill was on the ice for 7 minutes, 38 seconds in the first two periods, including 22 seconds of five on three, without allowing a goal. The Blues' penalty kill came into the game having allowed just two goals in 28 opportunities, the second-best mark in the league at 92.9 percent.
That two-man advantage for the Kings nearly produced a goal, but Allen and the goal post came to the rescue. He made a save on a shot by Tanner Pearson, then saved a shot off the rebound by Anze Kopitar and then another shot somehow found its way past Alex Pietrangelo and Allen and found the far post, bouncing away.
The Blues' lack of scoring by a forward hit seven periods when the team was shutout in the first period. Again, they didn't lack for chances and the best came about five minutes into the period when Steen slid a pass across the slot to Stastny, who had an open half of the net. The puck rolled slightly on Stastny when it hit his stick and he didn't get good wood on it. He didn't get any lift on it and Budaj slid across his crease and blocked it with his skate.
In the second period, defenseman Joel Edmundson had a shot go off the post, and Tarasenko had a good chance from in front of the net saved by Budaj. Just past the halfway mark, Dmitrij Jaskin, getting another game on the fourth line ahead of Scottie Upshall, made a nice spin move in the circle to Budaj's right and got off a shot that was saved and Ryan Reaves put the rebound wide.
After Pietrangelo went off for dealy of game with 8:35 to go in the second, Allen made a glove savae on Kopitar and then a pad save on Pearson's shot on the rebound after Edmundson couldn't clear the puck out of the zone.
