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Kings cap road trip against Blues

Dec 16, 2014 - 4:07 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Kings hope to put a positive finish on what has been a rough road trip when they visit the streaking St. Louis Blues for Tuesday's showdown at Scottrade Center.

The Kings won their second Stanley Cup title in three seasons last spring, but 2014-15 has been something of a struggle for Darryl Sutter's club. That has been particularly true on the road, where Los Angeles is just 4-6-5 this season.

L.A. has managed to post just one win on its current five-game swing, going 1-2-1 so far on the trip. The Kings have lost the last two tilts, getting slammed 6-2 in Montreal on Friday before falling Sunday in a shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tonight the Kings face a St. Louis team that is on a four-game winning streak. In addition to the current overall hot streak, the Blues also have won three in a row on home ice to push their record at Scottrade to 11-3-1.

L.A. hopes to knock the Blues down a peg tonight by continuing its dominance in this series. The Kings have won two straight, seven of eight and nine of the last 11 meetings overall. St. Louis has lost three of the last four encounters in the Gateway City.

The clubs will complete their regular-season series with a home-and-home set this week with the Blues visiting Los Angeles on Thursday when the Kings begin a four-game stay at the Staples Center.

The Kings won the only previous encounter in 2014-15, recording a 1-0 home win against St. Louis back on Oct. 16. Jonathan Quick made 43 saves in that shootout victory.

Quick took the loss in his club's most recent defeat after Toronto's Joffrey Lupul notched the lone goal of the shootout in a 4-3 Maple Leafs' victory. L.A.'s No. 1 netminder stopped 28 shots through regulation and overtime before getting beat by Lupul in the first round.

Justin Williams had a goal and an assist in the loss, while Marian Gaborik and Dwight King each lit the lamp. Alec Martinez supplied two helpers for the Kings.

L.A. is now 1-3 in shootouts and 2-5 in games that have gone past regulation.

"These overtime and shootout games, we just have to pull through somehow," said Gaborik. "We haven't been successful in these this year, but we battled back and we got that point. We just need to get some more points on the road."

The Blues earned an OT victory their last time out, as T.J. Oshie scored 63 seconds into the extra session to lift St. Louis to a 3-2 victory at Colorado. Oshie's game-winning goal came on the 42nd shot of the game for the Blues, who only allowed 25 shots against.

Oshie took Barret Jackman's from the left boards and used a Colorado defenseman as a screen before scoring on a wrister from the slot.

"This is something I've worked on in practice, catching it and releasing it quick," Oshie said. "It was perfect timing and Jack made a great feed to me."

Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk also lit the lamp for the Blues. Jake Allen made 23 saves for the win.

Martin Brodeur could get his third start of the season for St. Louis tonight. The veteran netminder is 8-6-1 with a 2.13 goals against average in 16 career games against the Kings.