The St. Louis Blues are trying to avoid being swept, but they're trailing 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings after one period of play on Sunday afternoon. The Blues are down 3-0 in the seven-game series and they've lost each game of the series so far by two or more goals.
The two teams alternated scores in the first period, with L.A. striking first pretty early. Just a few minutes into the game, Jordan Nolan got a shot by the Blues' Brian Elliott for his first goal of the series:
After that mistake allowed the Kings to take a 1-0 lead, the Blues followed up with a game-tying goal from Kevin Shattenkirk:
That was his first of the series, an impressive shot past Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick, but the Blues wouldn't hold the lead for long. Dustin Brown scored his fifth goal of the series minutes later to put L.A. back up, now 2-1. The Kings had a 10-4 shot advantage during the period, as well, so the Blues still have a good deal of work to do.
For more on the Kings, head to Jewels From The Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Blues, visit St. Louis Game Time and SB Nation St. Louis. For complete coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, stick with SB Nation's NHL hub.