There was no need to watch the out-of-town scoreboard at the Staples Center on Monday night. To check in on their nearest rival for the Western Conference’s final playoff berth, all the Kings and St. Louis Blues had to do was look across the ice.
And when they did it was the Kings who blinked first, with goals by David Perron, Magnus Paajarvi and an empty-netter by Alexander Steen lifting the Blues to a 3-1 win that put a major dent in the Kings’ postseason plans.