Chalk it up to being ‘just one of those games.’
Despite throwing 41 shots at Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington on Wednesday, the Kings ended up leaving St. Louis with a 3-1 loss. Adrian Kempe tallied the lone goal for LA.
Interestingly enough, the Kings first period was one of their best in recent memory. They looked ready to go from puck-drop and outshot St. Louis 14-9. Despite this strong start, the Blues scored late in the opening frame to steal any momentum being built by coach Jim Hiller’s team. Before the Kings could ever get on the board, St. Loius had already added two more goals to firmly establish their grip on things.
Their second goal came off the stick of Jake Neighbours, a player the Kings were once interested in.
While Hiller would’ve liked a different outcome against the Blues, perhaps he will be encouraged by the fact his team has controlled the majority of play for the last 120 minutes. The Kings carried their strong effort against the Islanders over to this game, generating most of the scoring chances, while also not allowing much at the other end of the ice either.
Trouble Finishing: Over the Kings last three games, they’ve only managed five goals on 91 shots (5.49 shooting%). Quantity of chances has not been an issue for LA, yet their ability to convert on these chances is something that will need to improve in the coming weeks. A key factor in their lack of output centers around their struggles on the power play, as they’ve failed to cash in on their last 11 attempts with the man-advantage.
Kempe Stays Hot vs. Blues: The Swede’s goal on Wednesday was his seventh in his last seven contests against St. Louis. Kempe has had a pair of strong games now since returning from injury; his goal and eye-popping eight shots on Wednesday continued this trend.
Stat Sheet Takeaways: The Kings had 21 of their shot attempts blocked by the Blues on Wednesday; showing just how effective St. Louis was in their ability to get in the way of LA’s opportunities throughout the night. In turn, this made things much easier on Binnington and he appeared unfazed by the Kings high-volume of chances.
Whose Net?: Throughout the season, Cam Talbot has been the Kings No. 1 goaltender. Is that job up-for-grabs over the final few weeks of the regular season? Despite Talbot likely wanting the first Blues goal back, he wasn’t the reason they lost on Wednesday. His team needs to provide him more goal support. Even so, combining David Rittich’s shutout on Monday with his stellar play when called upon does further complicate the situation a bit. And, with back-to-back games coming up this weekend, Hiller will most likely provide each goalie an opportunity to audition for more starts going forward.
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