NHL Western Conference Semifinals, Kings Vs. Blues: LA Leads 2-1 After Late Shorthanded Goal

After 40 minutes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, the Los Angeles Kings lead the St. Louis Blues, 2-1. The Kings got a late shorthanded goal to take their first lead of the game into the second intermission.

LA continued their solid penalty kill, which is a big step up from what the Blues faced in the first round against the San Jose Sharks. The Kings easily killed off a Matt Greene penalty with about five minutes remaining in the period.

After a Dwight King boarding call, the Kings would do more than just kill off a penalty. LA scored a shorthanded goal with a minute remaining to jump up 2-1. Dustin Brown raced out after the first face off, streaking hard down the ice and cutting to the crease. Blues' goaltender Brian Elliot stuffed the shot with his left pad, but Greene, the Kings' defenseman who was aggressively pushing forward even on the penalty kill, cleaned up a loose puck off Brown's shot and popped the rebound up and over Elliot's pad for the score.

The Blues seemed to still be arguing for a four-minute penalty on the boarding call on King. They were caught off-guard immediately following the face-off, and Brown was there to pounce on the loose puck. The Blues will start the third period still on the power play, with a little under a minute remaining.

The Blues had a number of great scoring chances towards the end of the second, but the Kings defense stepped up to break them up, or St. Louis simply failed to get shots on net.

LA defenseman Alec Martinez went down to the ice to break up a two-on-one breakaway for St. Louis, shutting down the chance and breaking up a pass attempt by Jamie Langenbrunner. The Blues will look to break though early in the third on the power play to get this one back to even.

For more on the Kings, check out Jewels From The Crown, Battle Of California and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Blues, head over to St. Louis Game Time.