WHAT TO WATCH
The St. Louis Blues were supposed to wrap up their season series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, but that won't happen due to weather conditions that prevented the Kings from traveling back from Denver in time for Monday's game. The postponed game will be made up at a later date.
Tyler Bozak is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 26 against Vegas. Bozak has missed 21 games with an upper-body injury but Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said Bozak should be good to go Wednesday.
"It can be frustrating at times, but I've dealt with it before," Bozak said of missing significant time due to the injury. "Take it day by day, stay as positive as you can. There's always light at the end of the tunnel."
Jaden Schwartz has joined the team on the road and skated in practice the last two days. Berube said he doesn't expect Schwartz to play, but that he might be available for Friday's game in San Jose.
THE SERIES SO FAR
Jan. 23: Blues 4, Kings 2
Torey Krug scored his first goal as a Blue to open the scoring, and Vince Dunn, David Perron and Jaden Schwartz also scored to lift the Blues to a 4-2 win at Enterprise Center.
Jan. 24: Kings 6, Blues 3
Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists in a 6-3 win for the Kings at Enterprise Center. It was the Kings first road win of the season. Brayden Schenn scored two goals, Jordan Kyrou had two assists and Ville Husso made 29 saves in his first NHL start.
Feb. 22: Kings 3, Blues 0
Jonathan Quick made 31 saves to record his second shutout in three starts in a 3-0 win against the Blues at Enterprise Center. The victory was Los Angeles' fifth straight. The Blues fell to 1-4-1 in their last six home games and were shutout for the third time this season.
Feb. 24: Kings 2, Blues 1
Oskar Sundqvist ended a Blues' goal-less streak of 139 minutes and 33 seconds when he scored with 1:46 left in regulation, but the Blues still fell 2-1 to the Kings at Enterprise Center. The win was LA's sixth straight, tying them with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the longest win streak of the season at the time.
March 5: Blues 3, Kings 2 (OT)
David Perron scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 44 seconds left in the third period with the goalie pulled, and Mike Hoffman buried the game winner just 90 seconds into overtime to lift the Blues to a dramatic 3-2 win. Ville Husso made 28 saves in helping the Blues to their fourth consecutive win.
March 6: Kings 4, Blues 3 (OT)
Vladimir Tarasenko made his return to the lineup but Adam Kempe spoiled the night by scoring the game-winning goal 1:45 into overtime at Staples Center. David Perron had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves. Kings forward Anze Kopitar had two goals to help Los Angeles to its first win in five games.
THEY SAID IT
"It's definitely going to be a tough game, it's a game we need to win. We're coming in here with the right mentality. We haven't had the best season series against these guys, so we really need this win." - Jordan Kyrou on Wednesday's matchup with the Kings.
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis aims to end its four-game skid with a victory against Los Angeles.
The Kings are 11-10-6 against opponents from the West Division. Los Angeles has converted on 25.3% of power-play opportunities, recording 25 power-play goals.
The Blues are 14-9-5 against West Division opponents. St. Louis ranks 10th in the league recording 8.5 points per game, averaging 3.1 goals and 5.4 assists.
Los Angeles knocked off St. Louis 4-3 in the last meeting between these teams on March 6. Anze Kopitar scored two goals for the Kings in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mikey Anderson leads the Kings with a plus-three in 25 games this season. Adrian Kempe has seven goals and two assists over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
Mike Hoffman leads the Blues with a plus-12 in 27 games this season. David Perron has five goals and five assists over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Kings: 3-4-3, averaging 2.5 goals, four assists, 2.7 penalties and 5.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .913 save percentage.
Blues: 4-3-3, averaging 2.9 goals, 5.2 assists, 3.3 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game with an .887 save percentage.
INJURIES: Kings: Jaret Anderson-Dolan: out (upper body), Dustin Brown: day to day (upper body).
Blues: Carl Gunnarsson: out for season (lower body), Robert Thomas: out (thumb).
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That was disappointing. Playing like a team that doesn't seem to care is not a good thing. Wondering how much of this current funk is because the depth just can't keep up. The top players, prior to this losing streak, were producing about what one would expect from the top players (Schenn, Perron, and ROR in particular). But there's been essentially no production from the rest of the team - and that's a big problem if it isn't fixed pronto. The Kings are in a better position than the Blues schedule wise (16 games vs Anaheim, SJ, Arizona and only 9 vs Vegas, Colorada, and Minnesota) going forward and a 2 point cushion isn't going to cut it.
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