St. Louis at Los Angeles

Los Angeles has owned the Blues, going up 3-0, with a great defense and a pounding, physical game, registering a combined 96 hits in the first three games. The Blues are a No. 2 seed after a great regular season, but they lost defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, the Blues' most valuable and indispensable player. The loss of Pietrangelo to injury has increased the Blues’ degree of difficulty. Last week in Game 2 the Kings won 5-2, and the contest wasn't that close. The Kings zapped them immediately with four first-period goals. The Blues took dumb penalties and coughed-up the puck on mindless turnovers. They gave up another short-handed goal, and went a numbing 0-for-9 on power plays. On offense, they couldn’t muster a shot on goal for the first 9 minutes, 23 seconds of the first period. The Blues’ defensive-zone coverage frayed and split at the seams, leaving goaltender Brian Elliott exposed for target practice. The Kings’ top players have completely outplayed the Blues' top players. Game 3 in LA was more of the same, a 4-2 LA win to take command over the shell-shocked and hurting Blues. The Kings are beating the Blues at their own game with strong forechecking and an ability to nullify the Blues' forecheck. The Blues have been unable to move pucks deep into the offensive zone and pin defenders in, creating time in the zone. LA has had free will clearing the puck and setting up its own offensive opportunities. Frustration has mounted for the Blues. Three times in Thursday's Game 3 the Blues tried to settle a score with the Kings' Dustin Brown. Instead, Alex Steen, Andy McDonald and Matt D'Agostini were ushered to the penalty box. The Blues are 2-8 in their last 10 games as a road underdog. LA is No. 2 in the NHL in goals allowed and St. Louis can't break their disciplined defense. The Kings have dominated the series, winning 3-1, 5-2 and 4-2. LA is 5-1 against the Blues this season, outscoring them by an 18-6 count. Now the Blues are without their top player, the pressure is on and they are 2,000 miles from home and the Kings are 9-3 in their last 12 home games. Play the L.A. Kings in Game 4.