Blues-Kings: St. Louis Loses Preseason Opener, Special Teams Fail Again

It was last year's St. Louis Blues last night—special teams cost them another game.  The Blues played the Los Angeles Kings last night in Kansas City.  The Kings had their B team out, as most of their starters were in Los Angeles for their game against Phoenix.

The first period was scoreless, with the Blues leading in shots nine to five.  Both teams went zero for two on their power play chances—with the Blues failing to convert on a five-on-three. 

Davis Drewiske scored a shorthanded goal one minute into the second period from Tom Preissing and Jarrett Stoll.  The Blues could not convert on their two power plays in the second period.  The Blues had ten shots in the period, while the Kings had nine.

The third period got ugly, with two fights and a bunch of roughing penalties.  Wayne Simmonds scored a power-play goal for the Kings from Tom Preissing and Teddy Purcell four minutes into the third.  Paul Kariya put a power-play goal in for the Blues from David Perron with six minutes left. 

There were four roughing penalties handed out between the teams after Perron hit someone with a high stick.  D.J. King fought Kevin Wesgarth and Matt Foy fought Wayne Simmonds. 

Jonathon Quirk did not give up a goal for the Kings, as Jeff Zatkof came in the third and gave up for the lone goal tp the Blues.  Marek Schawrtz and Chris Mason both gave up a goal for St. Louis.

The Blues had their chances, but they just couldn't finish.  The turning point in the game was when the Blues had a five-on-three for 47 seconds, and only had one good scoring chance.  As a NHL team, you have to convert on five-on-threes. 

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