March 13th, 2017
Well at least there’s good news for Bob Miller. The Kings last two games of the season probably won’t be stressful when he’s calling the final two games of his career, because the games will likely be meaningless. After the Kings lost 3-1 to the Blues on Monday at Staples Center, their playoff hopes are fading fast.
Magnus Paajarvi scored a power-play goal, and Jake Allen made 38 big saves as the Blues extended their lead over the Kings to 5 points for the final playoff spot in the West. There are 14 games left to play, and that means that even if the Blues win half of their remaining games, the Kings would have to win 10 of their final 14 just to pass them in the standings. LA hasn’t won 10 of 14 games during this entire season.
The game was scoreless after the 1st period, in a very cautious twenty minutes from both teams. Then in the 2nd, David Perron dug the puck out from underneath Jonathan Quick, and pushed the puck into the net after the Kings goaltender made the initial save.
The Blues made it 2-0 just 1:10 into the 3rd period, when Paajarvi deflected in a shot from Patrick Berglund, after Quick once again made the initial save on the play. It was a power play goal for St. Louis, which was just the 4th time the Kings have given up a power play goal in the last 55 penalty-kill opportunities.
Dustin Brown got the Kings on the board with just over 3 minutes left, putting home a rebound after a big scramble of bodies in front of the Blues net.
However, the Kings would get no closer. Jake Allen continued to respond with big save after big save, and Alexander Steen closed the scoring with an empty-netter. So how do the Kings approach the next 14 games?
“Just not pay attention to standings, not pay attention to what other the other teams did. And just worry about us and win every single game for the rest of the season,” defenseman Drew Doughty said.
The Kings face another must win game on Tuesday night against Phoenix at Staples Center. LA is 5-5-2 in back-to-back games this season.