Blues at Kings
Two teams looking to begin new streaks face off Monday as the Los Angeles Kings host the St. Louis Blues. Los Angeles had its franchise record-tying 11-game point streak snapped Saturday, when it dropped a 2-1 decision to Calgary. Justin Williams scored his 200th career goal with 4:33 remaining in the third period to forge a tie, but former King Mike Cammalleri tallied with 23 seconds left to hand Los Angeles its first regulation loss since Nov. 2 against Nashville.
St. Louis' five-game winning streak came to an end Friday as it suffered a 6-3 loss at San Jose. The Blues got within 4-3 after allowing four first-period goals, but Brent Burns completed his first career hat trick with a power-play tally a minute later and set up rookie Tomas Hertl's empty-netter as the Sharks posted their fourth consecutive win. Jaden Schwartz extended his point streak to six games with a goal and an assist for the Blues.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NHLN-Canada, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BLUES (18-4-3): Friday's game marked the first time St. Louis allowed four goals in the first period since April 7, 2010 against Chicago. The Blues yielded a total of four tallies over their previous four games and hadn't surrendered more than three goals in a contest since suffering a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Nov. 2. Alex Steen (20 goals) trails Washington captain Alex Ovechkin by one tally for the league lead but has scored in only two of his last seven games.
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-7-4): Despite the loss, Los Angeles continued its stellar defensive play Saturday. The Kings have allowed fewer than three goals in a club-record 12 straight games and more than three just once in their last 16 contests. Anze Kopitar notched an assist Saturday to become the seventh player in team history to reach the 500-point plateau.
OVERTIME
1. The teams are meeting for the first time since Los Angeles defeated St. Louis in six games in the first round of last season's playoffs.
2. Schwartz has collected three goals and four assists during his point streak.
3. The Kings have allowed only three power-play goals on 44 opportunities since Nov. 7.