ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 40 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Wednesday night in a key game in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Alexey Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who kicked off a four-game home stand.
Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ goal and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as Los Angeles lost for the third time in five games.
The win moved St. Louis within six points of idle Vegas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have 16 games remaining, while the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights have 17 left.
Toropchenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with 2:30 left in the first period. It was Toropchenko’s second goal in as many games and it snapped a streak of 81 minutes, 10 seconds since Los Angeles last allowed a goal.
Neighbours made it 2-0 by tapping in a bouncing puck in front of the Kings net at the 1:57 mark of the second period.
Binnington made several tough saves in the second, stopping several deflections. He also got help from his post.
Saad made it 3-0 with 9:34 left in the third period off a slick tip of Colton Parayko’s shot. Kevin Hayes, who was playing in his 700th career game, also got an assist on the goal.
Binnington continued to frustrate the Kings in the third, with a sprawling save on a shot by Drew Doughty during a mid-period flurry, but Kempe finally found the back of the net with 6:52 left.
Pavel Buchnevich suited up in his 200th game as a member of the Blues.
UP NEXT
Kings: Travel to Chicago on Friday night.
Blues: Host Minnesota on Saturday night.
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