NHL Playoffs 2012: 3 Keys for St. Louis Blues to Beat Los Angeles Kings

After the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Kings defeated the No. 1 seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the 2012 NHL playoffs, it set up a matchup against the second-seeded St. Louis Blues.

The Blues come into this matchup after making quick work of the San Jose Sharks in the first round.

Ken Hitchcock has his crew playing the best hockey of the season, and they won’t be easy for the Kings to stop.

Let’s take a look at three keys for the Blues to keep rolling against the Kings.

Brian Elliott

Elliott has been doing a phenomenal job of filling in for injured starter Jaroslav Halak, who continues to nurse an ankle injury.

Halak will be unavailable for Game 1 and Game 2 against the Kings, meaning Elliott will continue to start.

If the Blues have to switch back to Halak for Game 3, it probably means that Elliott has struggled to stop the Kings.

If Elliott plays well, Halak probably won’t see much ice time against Los Angeles.

Penalty Killing 

The Kings have struggled to score on power plays so far this postseason, converting only 11.5 percent of them.

The Blues, on the other hand, have killed 88.2 percent of their opponents’ power-play opportunities.

In fact, St. Louis only allowed two power-play goals in the entire series against the Sharks.

Barrett Jackman, Alex Pietrangelo, Roman Polak and company are going to have to continue their hot play and protect their zone against the onslaughts of goal-scorers like Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll if the Blues are going to take this series.

More T.J. Oshie Magic

Remember this play from T.J. Oshie to set up a David Backes goal in Game 2 against the Sharks?

It was one of the best plays of Oshie’s young career and it saved his team.

That assist changed the tone of the entire series. The Blues never looked back and never lost another game.

If Oshie can take the wind out of the Kings’ sails with a similar amazing play early in this series, the Blues should roll to the conference finals.