Justin Faulk scored 46 seconds into overtime to lift the visiting St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.
Faulk converted a two-on-one with David Perron. Tyler Bozak also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the Blues (25-20-9, 59 points).
St. Louis already clinched fourth place in the West Division but is still awaiting its first-round opponent in its ninth postseason appearance in the past 10 seasons.
Alex Iafallo scored, and Calvin Petersen made 17 saves for Los Angeles (21-26-7, 49 points). The Kings were eliminated from postseason contention last week, keeping them home for the playoffs for a third straight season.
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The game was scoreless through the first two periods before Bozak gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the third.
The play was set up with a no-look backhand pass from Jaden Schwartz to Bozak in the slot, and the center scored on a backhander for his fifth goal of the season.
The Kings tied it 1-1 at 7:35 after winning the puck on the forecheck and getting the puck to Iafallo, who netted his 13th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the left circle.
The Kings went on a power play with 2:13 left in regulation, and Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty hit the post with a slap shot with 1:08 remaining, but the game continued into overtime.
The Kings outshot the Blues 6-5 in the first period and 9-6 in the second.
Blues defenseman Jake Walman was a late scratch after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier Monday.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong issued a statement: “Jake Walman has tested positive for COVID-19. We are very comfortable it is a false positive as he passed the POC test today and has also been vaccinated. Under extreme caution, we have recalled Steven Santini under emergency conditions for tonight’s game.”
Santini played his second game of the season for St. Louis and fourth in the NHL over the past two seasons. He finished the game with an even rating in 16:29 of ice time.
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–Field Level Media