Friday NHL Preview: Kings vs. Blues

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The St. Louis Blues get the second season against the Kings looking for some revenge for some earlier losses.

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The Kings have taken the first two, getting a pair of goals from Simon Gagne and 27 saves from Jonathan Quick in a 5-0 win on Oct. 18 in Los Angeles, and the tiebreaking score from Willie Mitchell with 5:49 remaining for a 3-2 win on Nov. 22 in St. Louis.

The Blues have had plenty of time to gear up for the stretch run. They're the last team to get back into action following the All-Star break and will be playing for the first time in 10 days. They'll also be aiming for their NHL-leading 22nd home win before heading out on a three-game road trip.

Improving upon the League's 30th-ranked offense (2.16 goals per game) would be one surefire way for Los Angeles to improve upon its current seventh-place standing in the Western Conference and challenge San Jose for the Pacific Division crown and a top-three seed. While the onus is on everyone to contribute, fourth-year defenseman Drew Doughty has been on pace for his worst scoring totals since his rookie season. Doughty came up big Wednesday, however, scoring a power-play goal with four-tenths of a second left to give the Kings a 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets.

Despite entering the break off back-to-back losses to Detroit and Pittsburgh, so much has gone right in St. Louis since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach in early November. The Blues are poised not only to make the playoffs for just the second time in seven seasons, but they are within striking distance of the West-leading Red Wings with three games in hand. They've only lost three regulation games at Scottrade Center all season but will need to improve upon a mediocre 8-10-3 road record with 20 of their final 33 games taking place away from home.

The Blues want to make a run at the Red Wings and that starts with the game against the Kings, but winning against the Kings is a tough to task.