By JOE HARRIS The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Be it the postseason or the race for a postseason berth, a hot goaltender is often the difference-maker.
Jordan Binnington made 40 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Kings, 3-1, on Wednesday night in a key game in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
“We had lots of pucks in and around their net,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller told reporters in St. Louis. “I think we maybe tried to overpass in that area and the times that we did shoot and there were deflections or it just missed our stick, that’s not execution, that’s just the way the puck bounces sometimes. There were definitely opportunities to execute a little cleaner around the net [though] that we weren’t able to do.”
Alexey Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who kicked off a four-game homestand.
“I think we’ve done a good job this year as a group, playing the right way and playing tight in our own zone,” Binnington said. “I think it’s been a lot better, and it’s fun to play back there and I’m enjoying it. It’s a big win for us, coming home like that. We’ve got more work to do. That’s the focus.”
Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ goal and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as the Kings lost for the third time in five games.
“I think for us, our identity to play well defensively and break them down,” Kings defenseman Jordan Spence said in assessing the defeat. “And I think in general, for our whole game, I think we didn’t really do that. There are some bits and pieces that we did that during the game, but in order for us to win from now on, we have to play a full 60 minutes and we didn’t do that.”
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 Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights have 17 left.
“It makes things very interesting and starts to…
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