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    Lou Korac
    Lou Korac
    Mar 5, 2025, 20:16
    St. Louis Blues winger Jordan Kyrou (25) looks to make a play with the puck against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jordan Spence. (Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)

    The St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings get to renew acquaintances.

    And it's only the middle.

    After playing for the first time against one another last Saturday at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, a 4-1 Blues victory, the Blues (29-27-6) and Kings (31-20-8) go at it again on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. (FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) from Crypto.com Arena; they will also play there again and conclude the season series in a span of eight days on Saturday.

    "The challenges are it’s hard to beat a team three times in that short period of time because you get to know each other and it becomes a little bit of bad blood over time usually," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said prior to Saturday's game. "But the good part is, is that you get the focus as a player on who you’re going against because usually the matchups end up very similar and you get a little bit of a playoff mentality. You’ve got to win your battle to help your team win the game and your battle might be your matchup, it might be face-offs, but every little detail becomes more emphasized and more important. That’s where as a team, we still need to grow."

    The Blues will play the same lineup for the sixth straight game, but Jordan Binnington, who made 25 saves against the Kings getting the win last Saturday, will get the start. Binnington relieved Joel Hofer in Sunday's 6-3 loss against the Dallas Stars when Hofer was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period.

    The Kings have matched their longest skid of the season (0-3-1) losing four in a row, including three straight in regulation and have just five wins (5-6-3) their past 14 games. But Los Angeles is practically unbeatable at home with just three regulation losses (19-3-3) in 25 games.

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    Blues Projected Lineup:

    Jake Neighbours-Robert Thomas-Pavel Buchnevich

    Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

    Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc

    Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker

    Cam Fowler-Colton Parayko

    Philip Broberg-Justin Faulk

    Ryan Suter-Nick Leddy

    Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

    Healthy scratches include Alexandre Texier and Tyler Tucker. The Blues report no injuries.

    - - -

    Kings Projected Lineup:

    Alex Turcotte-Anze Kopitar-Alex Laferriere

    Kevin Fiala-Quinton Byfield-Adrian Kempe

    Warren Foegele-Phillip Danault-Trevor Moore

    Tanner Jeannot-Samuel Helenius-Trevor Lewis

    Mikey Anderson-Vladislav Gavrikov

    Joel Edmundson-Drew Doughty

    Jacob Moverare-Brandt Clarke

    Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; David Rittich will be the backup.

    Healthy scratches include Akil Thomas, Kyle Burroughs and Jordan Spence. The Kings report no injuries.