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Blues 2, Kings 1 (OT)

ST. LOUIS -- A double-minor penalty in overtime of an NHL playoff game normally would be hard to overcome, but it didn't take the St. Louis Blues long to do just that Tuesday night in the opening game of their series against the Los Angeles Kings.

Just 41 seconds after Kevin Shattenkirk was assessed that penalty for high-sticking against Dustin Penner, Alexander Steen scored his second goal of the game to give the Blues a 2-1 victory.

The win was the first playoff overtime victory for the Blues since 2001 and also broke an eight-game losing streak by the Blues against Los Angeles, including four straight losses to the Kings in the second round of their playoff run to the Stanley Cup last year.

Steen was able to take advantage of a mistake by Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, who got caught behind his own net as Steen controlled the puck and slipped into the net before Quick could recover.

The win kept the Blues from suffering what would have been a heartbreaking loss after they were only 31.6 seconds from a 1-0 win before the Kings, after pulling Quick, scored on a goal by Justin Williams that went over Elliott's shoulder to tie the score and send it into overtime.

Until that goal, the Blues dominated the game, outshooting the Kings 36-19 through regulation but failing to score more than the one goal by Steen.

The Blues, who won their final six home games in the regular season to clinch home-ice advantage in this round, came out flying at the start of the game. They outshot the Kings 14-5 in the first period and registered 13 hits to eight for Los Angeles. They scored the only goal of the period at 9:05 when Steen was set up by Kevin Shattenkirk on a power play.

The goal, Steen's second career playoff goal, came while the Kings' Trevor Lewis was serving a minor penalty for delay of game.

The margin stayed 1-0 because of Quick, the MVP of the Kings' playoff run last year who stopped the other 23 St. Louis shots during the first two periods, including several excellent scoring chances as the Blues maintained the pressure and intensity of the first period.

Quick also stopped all 12 St. Louis shots in the third period, giving Los Angeles the chance to tie on Williams' late goal.

NOTES: The Blues' last victory against Los Angeles came Feb. 3, 2012, a 1-0 win in St. Louis with Jaroslav Halak in goal. ... St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester played in his first playoff game after 764 regular-season games, the most without a playoff appearance by a current NHL player. ... Among the pregame scratches were Los Angeles defenseman Matt Greene, out with an undisclosed injury, and St. Louis rookie forward Vladimir Tarasenko. ... Tarasenko was replaced in the lineup by T.J. Oshie, who had missed the Blues' last 15 games with an ankle injury. He last played on March 28, when the Blues lost 4-2 to the Kings. ... The second game of the series will be played Thursday night in St. Louis.