A seemingly harmless shot from defenseman Barret Jackman with 51 seconds remaining in the third period gave the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 triumph over the visiting Los Angeles Kings Thursday night.
Jackman's goal, from just inside the Kings' blueline, also gave the Blues a 2-0 lead in their opening-round, best-of-seven series against last season's Stanley Cup champions. Jonathan Quick, the Kings' goaltender, appeared to have been screened by teammate Drew Doughty on the rather weak shot from Jackman. Quick wound up wearing goathorns for the second time this series. He was at fault for a giveaway in overtime in the first game, which the Blues won 2-1. The Kings actually opened the scoring Thursday on a Dustin Brown goal midway through the first period but St. Louis tied the game at 1-1 on Patrik Berglund's first goal of the series. Assists on Berglund's goal went to Alex Pietrangelo and David Perron's, their first assists of the playoffs. Jackman's goal was his first in the playoffs and the assists on his goal were credited to Chris Stewart and Vladimir Sobotka. It was also their first assists in the post-season.