Kings stun Blues on road to open Western Conference semis

Watch the throne: Kings goalie Jonathan Quick deflects a shot by the Blues' Andy McDonald on Saturday in St. Louis. Los Angeles won 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead in their playoff series. AP

ST. LOUIS — Goals from unexpected sources put the Los Angeles Kings in position for another road triumph. Jonathan Quick — no surprise there — made those scores stand up.

Matt Greene scored his first career playoff goal short-handed late in the second period and rookie Slava Voynov also got his first of the playoffs as the Kings beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 in the opener of a Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday night.

"It's definitely a great feeling to be able to chip in and help out a little bit," Greene said. "But we have a lot of work to do."

Quick, who shut out the Blues twice in the regular season, made 28 saves and is 5-1 in the postseason with a 1.55 goals-against average. He was at his best in the first period, charging from the crease to stuff a backhander by B.J. Crombeen and also stopped a wraparound attempt by Patrik Berglund.

"It was a great win," Quick said. "We get to enjoy it for five minutes and then focus on Monday."

Game 2 is Monday night in St. Louis.

The Blues could be without defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who didn't play in the third period after getting his head driven into the boards by Dwight King behind the St. Louis net on the penalty that led to the short-handed goal.

Coach Ken Hitchcock seemed to indicate Pietrangelo had concussion symptoms, but said he couldn't concern himself with that right now.

"I don't want to get into whether he's going to play or not play," Hitchcock said. "Everybody saw the hit. We all know what the injury is. If he's not in, then somebody else gets to jump up.

"I've got bigger issues than replacing Petro. We need much more commitment from our top players."

Dustin Penner added an empty-netter for the Kings, who were 3-0 on the road while taking down the President's Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games in the first round. Los Angeles is the eighth seed in the conference but won the season series 3-1.

"No one gave us a good chance against Vancouver, I don't think," forward Dustin Brown said. "I doubt very few people are giving us a chance against the Blues. It's up to us."

NEW YORK — Chris Kreider is six games into his NHL career and days shy of his 21st birthday.

And yet the Stanley Cup playoffs are anything but overwhelming for the newest New York Rangers forward who has quickly become a hit on Broadway.

Kreider scored the go-ahead goal and then set up Brad Richards' insurance tally 90 seconds later in the third period to lift New York to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday in the opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Kreider, who earlier this month helped Boston College win the NCAA championship, scored the second goal of his NHL career — and these playoffs — and he did it at the perfect time to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead 7:00 into the third.

Both Kreider's goals have been playoff game-winners. He also had the deciding marker in New York's Game 6 victory at Ottawa when the Rangers played the first of two potential elimination games in the first round.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words," Kreider said. "I'm just trying to keep my head down and work hard. Whether or not the puck goes in, I'm just trying to play the same role I play every night and be consistent and be defensively reliable."

Kreider got into the Rangers lineup only because fellow rookie Carl Hagelin was suspended for three games when he elbowed Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson in Game 2.

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