Schwartz's OT goal lifts Blues past Kings

ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz and the rest of the St. Louis Blues barely had enough time to catch their collective breath after another scintillating save by goalie Brian Elliott.
Seconds later, it was off to the races for Schwartz, who had the game on his stick against the Los Angeles Kings.

Schwartz scored 1:40 into overtime to give the Blues a 2-1 victory against the Kings at Scottrade Center on Thursday in a Stanley Cup Playoff-like atmosphere.
Schwartz beat Jonathan Quick on a length-of-the-ice breakaway moments after Elliott's glove save on a wide-open shot by Milan Lucic that would have given the Kings the victory.
Kings' center Vincent Lecavalier threw a puck towards Elliott, who knocked it into the right circle. Schwartz fought off defenseman Alec Martinez and took off, with Lecavalier in hot pursuit. His shot hit the left post but caromed off Quick's left skate and went into the net.
It was Schwartz's third goal in four games since returning from a fractured left ankle that forced him to miss 49 games.
"I think one guy drove wide and threw it out front," Schwartz said. "It was kind of a little bit of a scramble in front. The puck just kind of bounced and it was kind of a race from there. Lecavalier was chasing me and I just tried getting the puck on net. I think it bounced, hit the post and went off Quick's [skate] and in. That's probably the longest breakaway I'll ever have. I think I started at our goal line."

Elliott's stop on Lucic 1:09 into overtime had everyone in the Blues' dressing room talking about it.
"We were not even shocked because he's been making those all year, but that was a huge save," Schwartz said. "If it wasn't for him throughout the whole game, we wouldn't have been there. He made some big saves from start to finish and then obviously the one in OT was a game-saver."
The Kings broke in on a 2-on-1 after defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk fell down neat the red line. Dustin Brown picked up the loose puck and fed Lucic in the slot, but Elliott's glove was too fast.
Elliott, who is 3-0-1 with a goals-against average of 0.48 and a .982 save percentage in his past four starts against the Kings, hasn't decided where that save ranks among his best.
"I don't know; I've got to watch it afterwards," Elliott said. "[Shattenkirk] goes down on kind of a backwards toe-pick there and all you're trying to do is just play the 2-on-1 honest. I just tried to get over, didn't really know who's out there. Kind of let the body do the work and it ended up in the glove."
Robby Fabbri scored a first-period power-play goal for the Blues (34-17-9), who matched their season high by winning their fourth in a row. St. Louis is 5-0-1 in its past six games. Elliott finished with 34 saves and is 11-3-2 in 16 starts since Jake Allen went down with a knee injury on Jan. 8.
"I think it was a highly competitive 60 minutes," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Both teams poured so much into the game ... There wasn't much room out there. It was difficult getting anywhere. And yet it's a 2-1 hockey game and probably between the two teams, there's 35-40 scoring chances, which is incredible. Yet there's only three goals. Both goalies were outstanding."
The Kings (33-20-4) lost their third in a row and are 2-3-1 on a season-long seven-game trip that ends Saturday at the Nashville Predators. Tyler Toffoli scored a power-play goal for the Kings early in the third period, and Quick made 30 saves.
"I'm not smiling because the other team scored," coach Darryl Sutter said. "I'd like to win 2-1 and make the playoffs, just like same as St Louis. Both teams played playoff hockey."
The Kings lost center Anze Kopitar, whose last shift ended with 54 seconds remaining in the first period. He left with a lower-body injury and the Kings said his return was questionable but he did not take another shift.

Sutter did not address Kopitar's status.
Toffoli tied the game when he took a quick pass from Jeff Carter and beat Elliott with a slap shot from the slot 3:25 into the third period, ending the Blues' string of 25 straight penalty kills; St. Louis came into the game No. 1 in the League.
"Obviously it's good [to score], but it's not enough at the end of the day," Toffoli said. "We're at a point in the season where we need every point, and we need two points and we didn't get it tonight."
The Kings were able to kill off a 5-on-3 Blues power play that lasted 1:54 when Luke Schenn was called for hooking Schwartz at 8:47 of the third and Jake Muzzin was sent off for delay of game six seconds later.
"Both teams' power plays and penalty kills were a big part of it," Sutter said. "We play each other like playoff games."
Elliott's right skate save on Kyle Clifford in tight off a rebound attempt with 5:56 remaining kept the game tied.
The Blues had the edge in territorial advantage in the first period, outshot the Kings 16-8 and went ahead on Fabbri's power-play goal.
Fabbri's 14th of the season came off a give-and-go with Jori Lehtera after Quick tripped Scottie Upshall to put the Blues on the power play. Fabbri worked into the right circle and beat Quick with a wrist shot at 11:32 for his third goal in four games. Rookie defenseman Colton Parayko got an assist and has five points in five games, including four assists.
"Coming in, there wasn't a lot of room in that spot so I wanted to get it off quick," Fabbri said. "I tried to get it upstairs in tight and it did."