Robert Thomas scored in regulation and posted the shootout winner to give the visiting St. Louis Blues a 3-2 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
Jake Neighbours also tallied in regulation and the shootout for the Blues, who are on a 6-1-1 run to keep within striking distance of the Western Conference’s wild-card playoff positions.
St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves, including stops on a pair of breakaway chances in the overtime frame before the game went to the shootout. He also denied two of the three Kings he faced in the skills contest for the extra point.
Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore scored for the Kings, who have lost their past five games (0-3-2) but remain third in the Pacific Division. Goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots through overtime in a stellar performance to earn a point.
With the opportunity to claim the victory in the shootout, Thomas worked down his off wing and ripped a shot off Kuemper’s blocker and into the cage.
Kevin Fiala was the only Los Angeles player who netted his shootout attempt.
The clubs traded goals in each of the first two periods.
Neighbours opened the scoring at the 18:50 mark, finding the mark when he tucked home a short-side shot during a two-on-one rush.
Byfield evened the score 32 seconds later when he unloaded a rocket of a shot from just beyond the left faceoff dot.
Moore gave the Kings a lead just past the midway point by chipping into the net a loose puck that was in Binnington’s skates after a slight scramble around the net.
Thomas tied the clash 2-2 on a power play when he buried a top-shelf offering from the slot with 46.3 seconds left in the middle period. Thomas extended his point-scoring streak to 11 games, in which he has netted five goals and 10 assists.
–Field Level Media
