It certainly didn’t take long for the Blues to score the first goal of the game. Alexander Steen netted it just a minute and seven seconds in on a pass from T.J. Oshie, who is apparently healed – Steen stood there and flicked the puck in while Kings defenders just stood there. If that’s indicative of how LA’s approaching this game, then the Blues should be fine. The Blues’ top line of Oshie, David Backes, and Steen are the Blues’ best scoring line. They have 13 points in just the last five games. The cohesiveness and consistency of coach Ken Hitchcock’s system has jumpstarted the captain and his linemates.
The rest of the period was 110% St. Louis. Constant pressure, constant breaking up of any chance the Kings had to get into any sort of offensive form, and outstanding backchecking kept the Kings to eight shots on net, none of which squeaked through. The Blues don’t need to change a thing for the next two periods if they want to win. Los Angeles, on the other hand, needs to tighten up or else that one goal deficit is going to climb.