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LA Kings vs. St. Louis Blues – Game 5: Expect A Return To Ultra-Tight Checking

LA Kings center Anze Kopitar, shown here during a recent practice session, ended a 20-game goal scoring slump in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of their first round playoff series at Staples Center on May 6, 2013.
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

LOS ANGELES — Heading into tonight’s Game 5 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series against the St. Louis Blues, the Los Angeles Kings cannot afford to think that they’ve found their groove after a 4-3 win in Game 4 at Staples Center on May 6.

Indeed, although their offense awakened, much of that was due to the Blues playing right into the hands of the Kings.

“The turnovers in the neutral zone fed their offense,” said Blues center David Backes. “To have a couple of guys pinching in, giving them a two-on-one and a three-on-one when we’re up 2-0 in the first, that’s not the way to protect a lead. We hung [Blues goalie Brian] Elliott out to dry there. He’s been awesome for us, and we need to be better for him.”

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LA Kings Need More Than Goals To Advance Past St. Louis Blues

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Heading into tonight’s Game 4 of their first round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues (7:00 PM PDT, Staples Center; televised regionally on CNBC in the United States, CBC and RDS in Canada, and on Fox Sports West in Southern California), the Los Angeles Kings find themselves back in the series, having won Game 3 on May 4, 1-0, at Staples Center, cutting the Blues’ lead in the series by half.

That said, the Kings know that they are still not playing as well as they can, or as they need to, if they expect to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

What stares you in the face most is the fact that the Kings have scored just one goal in each game of this series.

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St. Louis Blues Present A Different Challenge For LA Kings This Time Around

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings qualified for the 2013 post-season party as the fifth seed in the Western Conference, and will face the St. Louis Blues in the first round, with Game 1 in St. Louis tonight (5:00 PM PDT, televised in Southern California on Prime Ticket).

For those who may still have the Kings’ sweep of the Blues in the second round of last season’s playoffs on their minds and believe that the Kings will enjoy similar success this time around, you can forget about that.

In fact, the Blues are likely to give the Kings a serious run for the money, and they have a good chance of winning the series, even though the Kings dominated the Blues in head-to-head competition during the regular season, sweeping the three games and outscoring them 14-7 in those contests.

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