Blues 2, Kings 1
ST. LOUIS -- Barret Jackman and the rest of the St. Louis Blues saw a goal in the final minute almost cost them a victory in the first game of their playoff series against Los Angeles.
On Thursday night, Jackman reversed the drama, scoring his first career playoff goal with 50.4 seconds left to rally the Blues to a 2-1 win and a 2-0 lead over the Kings.
Jackman skated in on the left wing, took a pass from Chris Stewart and fired a shot past goalie Jonathan Quick just as it appeared the game was going to be a repeat of Game 1 and go to overtime.
The third game of the series will be played Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The Blues got themselves in trouble early, being whistled for four minor penalties in the first 9:49, the last an interference penalty on Jackman that appeared to come after the play had been whistled dead.
That penalty followed a high-sticking call on Ryan Reaves and gave the Kings a 5-on-3 advantage, and it only took them six seconds to score the game's first goal. Dustin Brown deflected a shot from Mike Richards past goalie Brian Elliott to give Los Angeles its first lead in the series.
Quick made several outstanding saves, including robbing the hero for the Blues in Game 1, Alexander Steen, and Jaden Schwartz in keeping Los Angeles in front 1-0 through the first two periods.
The Blues finally were able to tie the game 3:44 into the third period when Patrik Berglund scored his fourth career playoff goal off a rebound of a long shot by Alex Pietrangelo. The puck hit Quick, then bounced off Berglund's foot, off the post and into the net. The goal was reviewed before it was allowed.
The Blues had a scary moment midway through the period when Brown was knocked into Elliott, who hit the goal post and went down. He lay on the ice for more than two minutes before he was able to get up. He remained in the game and stopped the final four shots on goal by Los Angeles.
The last time the Blues led a playoff series 2-0 was in 2001 against Dallas.
In Game 1 of this series, Los Angeles got a game-tying goal with 31 seconds left before the Blues were able to win in overtime.
NOTES: The Blues used the same lineup they featured in Game 1, while the Kings made one change, inserting C Colin Fraser and scratching Brad Richardson. ... Los Angeles D Robyn Regehr was playing despite having his nose broken during Tuesday night's game when he was hit by the heel of David Backes' skate. ... At the morning skate Thursday, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock was asked about the difference between him and Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter. "In the summer, he talks to cows and I talk to golfers," Hitchcock said. ... En route to winning the Stanley Cup last year, the Kings never trailed in any of the four rounds, taking a 3-0 lead in each series.
