#LAKings Kings tripped up by turnovers in first road game, lose to Blues (Daily News)
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Brayden Schenn #10, Torey Krug #47 and David Perron #57 of the St. Louis Blues celebrate a goal by Krug against the Los Angeles Kings as Blake Lizotte #46 of the Los Angeles Kings reacts in the first period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Kings’ Adrian Kempe (9) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
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Calvin Petersen #40 of the Los Angeles Kings makes a save against Jaden Schwartz #17 of the St. Louis Blues in the third period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Calvin Petersen #40 of the Los Angeles Kings makes a save against Jaden Schwartz #17 of the St. Louis Blues in the first period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Sean Walker #26 of the Los Angeles Kings controls the puck against Robert Thomas #18 of the St. Louis Blues in the third period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Kings’ Sean Walker (26) battles St. Louis Blues’ Brayden Schenn (10) for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Calvin Petersen #40 of the Los Angeles Kings makes a save against the St. Louis Blues in the second period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Kings’ Trevor Moore (12) and St. Louis Blues’ Jaden Schwartz (17) fall to the ice while battling for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Calvin Petersen #40 of the Los Angeles Kings defend the goal against the St. Louis Blues in the third period at Enterprise Center on January 23, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington (50), Vince Dunn (29), and Carl Gunnarsson (4) defend the net against Los Angeles Kings’ Lias Andersson (24) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar (11) pressures St. Louis Blues’ Oskar Sundqvist (70) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Los Angeles Kings’ Mikey Anderson (44) and St. Louis Blues’ Robert Thomas (18) battle for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
Los Angeles Kings’ Calvin Petersen (40) defends the net against St. Louis Blues’ Tyler Bozak (21) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)
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The Kings hit the road for the first time this season and found no shortage of bumps as inopportune turnovers condemned them to a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at Enterprise Center.
Defensemen Torey Krug and Vince Dunn notched goals for the Blues, as did forward David Perron before Jayden Schwartz added an empty-net goal. Jordan Binnington had an effective albeit uneventful night in net, contributing 21 of 23 saves.
Winger Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings. Cal Petersen made his second start in goal and bore the brunt of the Kings bad bounces and poor decisions with the puck, ceding three goals on 27 shots.
Petersen was shaken up early in the game after an awkward poke-check attempt led to his head colliding with Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and St. Louis forward David Perron.
He stayed in the game and made a superb cross-crease save on forward Jordan Kyrou eight minutes into the contest. He also denied defenseman Justin Faulk off another prime chance in transition.
Yet the Kings were hindered once more by a penalty, a familiar experience for them after having averaged more than five penalties per game in their four-game home stand.
Petersen fended off the initial man-advantage advance, but the Blues regrouped and moved the puck purposefully to Krug high in the zone. Krug blasted the puck as he fell to the ice and it zoomed through traffic to beat Petersen between his glove and his right pad 13:12 into the game
Petersen also made stops on forwards Robert Thomas and Mike Hoffman in succession in the final minute of the first frame. The Kings were out-shot 13-5 in a period that saw their puck management and checking deteriorate as time progressed.
The Kings drew even in the first minute of the second period as they secured the puck off a faceoff, moved it to Alex Iafallo on the left wing wall and into the high slot for a Kempe one-timer. It was Kempes third straight game with a goal.
St. Louis regained the lead less than two minutes later..
The Kings won a defensive zone faceoff but a turnover by Kurtis MacDermid put the Blues on the attack. They moved the puck to Dunn in a position similar to where Krug scored from in the first period. His knuckling wrist shot darted through the congestion in front of the net and over Petersens glove.
Defenseman Matt Roy lost control of the puck in his own end and St. Louis again made the Kings pay. Perron slipped the puck to Thomas, whose firm pass back to Perron led to the veteran forwards first goal of 2021
For the second straight game, a 5-on-3 power play opportunity invigorated the Kings. With 3:31 to play, Brown tapped in a pass on the backdoor from Kopitar. As he did in their previous game against Colorado on an even-strength goal, Kopitar drew the defense to him, this time by gliding toward the net, and then lifted a saucer pass across to Brown.
The Kings converted just one of eight two-man advantage opportunities last season, but are two-for-two early in this campaign.
It was Kopitars NHL-leading seventh assist, and it came on a night when he moved into sole possession of third place for most career games played as a King.
St. Louis out-shot the Kings 13-5 in the first period and were still doubling them up at one point in the second. Though they closed that gap, the Kings failed to generate meaningful offense in the third and spent significant chunks of time in their own zone while trailing.
The Blues, who surrendered a whopping five power-play goals against Colorado earlier this season, took a late penalty, their fifth of the game.
But the Kings failed to convert in the final three minutes, first with a five-on-four power play, then with six-on-four and six-on-five advantages once they pulled Petersen from his goal.
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https://www.dailynews.com/2021/01/23...lose-to-blues/