Jaroslav Halak blocks 22 as St. Louis Blues shutout Los Angeles Kings 1-0 -NHL Update
Friday was the night for goalies in the St. Louis versus Los Angeles matchup as Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Quick were in top form but as the Kings goalie failed to block one out of 33 shots the Blues took over and shut them out, 1-0, at the Scottrade Center
in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States.
Coming out of a long break, Jarsolav Halak was not sure whether he would be able to perform at par with the heated Jonathan Quick, but a little warm-up before the match and some sun during the weekend allowed him to freshen up.
"To be honest, I was a little worried at the start of the game," Halak said. "I didn't know if I was going to come out strong. The first five minutes, we came out a little rusty. But after that we settled down and started playing our game."
Halak faced 22 shots and blocked them all for a perfect night.
Both teams failed to score in the opening period along with not giving any chance to the opposition by staying clear of any possible penalties but Jamie Langenbrunner potted the only goal of the night at the 8:38 mark of the second to grab the game and an
extra two points.
Los Angeles gave off their first penalty nearly two minutes later as Jarret Stoll was booked for slashing but the Kings managed to keep St. Louis at bay from scoring another goal.
"Our guy was really great late, three great saves in the third period," St. Louis’ coach, Ken Hitchcock, said. "I'm really happy with the way we competed. I thought the first period was as good as we've played in a month."
At the moment, St. Louis Blues are one point above the fifth place Nashville Predators with 67 while Los Angeles Kings sit at number seven with 60 points, three above eighth place Minnesota Wild.
St. Louis Blues have the next three on the road, starting off with the Nashville Predators on Saturday while Los Angeles Kings will be facing off against Carolina Hurricanes the same day.
It will certainly be exciting to see both teams competing in their upcoming matchups.
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