Jake Allen's 38 saves help Blues to fifth win in row

LOS ANGELES -- Jake Allen made 38 saves to help the St. Louis Blues to their fifth straight win, 3-1 against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Monday.
Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, David Perron and Magnus Paajarvi scored, and Alex Pietrangelo had two assists for the Blues (36-27-5).
"You could feel the [intensity] in the first period. Everybody was trying to do the right thing, and it was a tough physical game," said Paajarvi, who compared the atmosphere to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "Not very many highlights, so to speak, but [goalie Jake Allen] came through. He was huge."

WATCH: All Blues vs. Kings highlights
St. Louis is five points ahead of Los Angeles for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and trails the Nashville Predators by two points for third place in the Central Division.
"We're just trying to approach it one game at a time here. This was a great challenge for us, and we know our next one is going to be as well," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "We're just trying to stay in the moment and get prepared every game. We're also in a fight here, so we don't have the luxury of relaxing a little bit here. We know that we have to keep pushing, and the guys are doing a heck of a job."
Dustin Brown scored, and Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Kings (33-29-6).
"This one stung," Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We were pretty excited for the game before, knowing what is at stake. Before the game, I felt good about us getting the two points, and we had some chances, and if we capitalize on those chances, the game is a lot different."
Perron beat Quick to give the Blues a 1-0 lead at 13:37 of the second period.
Los Angeles outshot St. Louis 21-9 in the second, but Allen stopped them all.

After Jeff Carter was called for holding 46 seconds into the third period, Paajarvi scored at 1:10 to make it 2-0.
Brown spoiled Allen's shutout bid when he put in a loose puck on a power play with 2:55 remaining to make it 2-1. He scored after Allen was unable to clear it from the crease.
Allen made 27 saves in a 1-0 win against the Kings at Scottrade Center on Oct. 29.
"Every time we play those guys, it's a defensive battle, and tonight was no different," Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar said. "I don't think our power play was at the level it needed to be, and obviously they got one on the power play, so that was the difference."
Steen scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to make it 3-1.
Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin left the game with an upper-body injury with 8:24 remaining in the second period after a collision with teammate Robert Bortuzzo.
St. Louis center Paul Stastny (illness) and defenseman Colton Parayko (undisclosed) returned to the lineup after missing a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday. Stastny won nine of 16 faceoffs and had three shots on goal, a blocked shot and a hit in 20:39.
Parayko had a blocked shot and a shot on goal in 19:01.

Goal of the game

Perron scored off the rebound of his initial attempt by swiping the puck from under Quick's pads.
"In games like that, getting the first goal is big," Perron said.

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Save of the game

Quick came off the left goal post to rob Steen on a redirection from close range off a pass from behind the net from Patrik Berglund at 3:30 of the third period.

Unsung performance of the game

Pietrangelo had two shots on goal, a plus-1 rating, three blocked shots and a hit in 26:27.

Highlight of the game

With the game 0-0, Allen stopped consecutive shots by Kings forwards Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli about seven minutes into the second period.

They said it

"I could care less about shutouts as long as we're winning. If I don't get a shutout for the rest of my career, but I get 30 wins a year, then there you go. But they just threw a puck at the net, went through a couple of people, and hit me, and I don't know what happened. It went in." -- Blues goalie Jake Allen on losing his shutout with 2:55 remaining
"Every game is huge, but I think both teams understood the significance of this game tonight and I think it showed in the desperation from both teams. Obviously, Jake was outstanding tonight. From top to bottom, we had a really strong team effort." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo
"Did a lot of good things, just couldn't finish it. … Best part about this game [is] we play again tomorrow. If we win tomorrow night, then you can say it looks good again (in the standings)." -- Kings coach Darryl Sutter

Need to know

Stastny played his 200th game with the Blues. … Perron is two goals shy of 100 with the Blues. ... Doughty played his 674th game to pass Mike Murphy for ninth in Kings history.

What's next

Blues: At the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-A, NHL.TV)