Kings expect `desperate’ Blues in Game 2

The St. Louis Blues have been here before. In their first-round series against San Jose, the Blues lost Game 1 at home in overtime, and it devastated them so much that all they did was win the next four games, by a combined margin of 12-5. The Kings know they haven’t accomplished anything by winning one game, and if they show signs otherwise, Darryl Sutter will disabuse them of that notion very quickly. The Blues lost only six times in regulation in 41 regular-season home games, so it will be a massive task for the Kings to take Game 2 as well. Dustin Penner and Jarret Stoll expressed that sentiment today, with Penner noting that he expects a “desperate’’ Blues team and Stoll noting that the Kings need to improve their effort from Game 1.

PENNER: “It’s never easy to lose the first game of a playoff series, especially at home. That’s why I say they’re going to come out desperate. We expect that. They’re going to work on things, just like we’re going to work on things and go over video. It’s going to be a totally different game.’’

STOLL: “We knew their push was going to be pretty good in the first, and it was. It was great. We weren’t as ready as maybe we needed to be in the first. The one player who was, for us, was Jonathan Quick, and we all know that. We’ve got to be better in front of him, for sure, to start the game. We found our legs, we found our game a little bit in the second and third. We had some power plays that helped that, and capitalizing on the power play, we’ve got to be better in that area too. There are areas of our game where we can definitely be better, and we’re seeing that, we know that and that’s what we’re focusing on for Game 2.’’