Blues 2, Kings 1 (SO)
LOS ANGELES -- Goaltender Brian Elliott made 26 saves and right winger Troy Brouwer scored the winning goal in a shootout as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Saturday night.
St. Louis (24-14-7) snapped a five-game losing streak and salvaged one of three games on its road trip. The Blues drew within one point of the Chicago Blackhawks for second place in the Central Division and seven points behind the division leading Dallas Stars.
Elliott stopped six of seven shootout attempts by the Kings to improve the Blues' season record in shootouts to 3-2.
The Kings killed a five-minute major to defenseman Brayden McNabb midway through the third period to keep the score tied and send the game to overtime.
McNabb was called for charging St. Louis left winger Magnus Paajarvi at 7:59, but goaltender Jonathan Quick made four saves during the disadvantage.
The Blues evened the score at 1 on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo's third goal of the season at 12:33 of the second period. Pietrangelo was allowed to penetrate deep into the Kings zone and beat Quick from inside the left faceoff circle with right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and center Jori Lehtera drawing assists.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 on center Anze Kopitar's 11th goal of the season at 9:54 of the second period. Left winger Milan Lucic maintained possession of the puck deep in the left corner to feed Kopitar for a backhand shot that beat Elliott from 15 feet.
Los Angeles (26-12-3) suffered its second loss in its last eight games but maintained a comfortable nine-point division lead over the Arizona Coyotes.
Quick stopped 15 shots and his record dropped to 23-9-2.
NOTES: The Blues recalled G Jordan Zimmerman from their American Hockey League affiliate in Chicago after G Jake Allen was injured in a collision with Anaheim RW Corey Perry in their 4-3 shootout loss Friday. The loss was costly for the Blues as they also lost C Paul Stastny and D Jay Bouwmeester to upper-body injuries and were scratched tonight along with Allen. All three players returned to St. Louis for re-evaluation Monday. ... Trade rumors continue to swirl around the Blues as multiple reports have them a serious bidder for disgruntled Tampa Bay LW Jonathan Drouin. LW Robbie Fabbri and D Kevin Shatterkirk have been mentioned as possibilities in a deal for Drouin, the third overall pick of the 2013 Entry Draft. ... Los Angeles did not dress D Jamie McBain, C Andy Andreoff and C Nick Shore. ... Kings D Alec Martinez appeared in his 300th NHL game.