Kings’ penalty-killing woes haunt them again in loss to Blues
ST. LOUIS — Alex Pietrangelo and Robert Thomas scored goals in a two-minute span of the second period and the St. Louis Blues came back to beat the Kings 5-2 on Thursday night.
Brayden Schenn scored twice, including an empty-netter, and Vince Dunn also scored for the Blues, who went 3 for 4 on the power play against a Kings penalty kill that had stopped 16 of their previous 17 attempts. Jaden Schwartz and Colton Parayko each had a pair of assists for the Blues and Jordan Binnington made 33 saves.
Jeff Carter and Alex Iafallo scored for the Kings and Jonathan Quick made 30 saves.
Pietrangelo tied it up 2-2 with a one-timer from the high slot midway through the second for the Blues’ second power play goal in three tries.
Thomas poked in a puck freed up by a quick stick from Zach Sanford to give the Blues a 3-2 lead with 8:04 left in the second. It was the first goal of the season for Thomas, who thought he had scored earlier in the period but a review showed his shot went off the crossbar instead of into the net.
Blake Lizotte says deciding to sign with the Kings was an “emotional time,†but the highly regarded prospect is focused on making an impact in the NHL.
Schenn finished off a nice feed from Schwartz and Parayko gave the Blues a two-goal advantage at 7:27 of the third with the team’s third power play goal of the game.
The Kings capitalized on a failed Blues breakout to take a 1-0 lead late in the first. Blake Lizotte kept the puck in the Blues zone and found Carter all alone in front of the net as he beat Binnington on a backhander for his second goal of the season with 5:11 left in the period.
Dunn evened the game with a power play goal with 1:37 left in the first. Schwartz set it up with a no-look pass that found its way through the Kings crease and in between Drew Doughty’s skates before landing on Dunn’s tape.
Iafallo gave the Kings a 2-1 lead at the 3:07 mark of the second period. Iafallo tipped in a Sean Walker shot from the point for his second goal of the season.
Blues right-winger Vladimir Tarasenko left the game with an upper body injury after getting tangled up with Kings defenseman Walker on a partial break with about 6 minutes left in the first. Tarsenko, who had 8 points in his previous 5 games, had two shots in 4:37 of ice time before leaving.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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