The weather definitely could level the playing field,

ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz had let enough chances slip by this season.Jake Allen stopped 27 shots and Schwartz scored early in the third period, leading the St. Louis Blues over the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Saturday night.Schwartz scored 3:43 into the third off a pass from Jori Lehtera, swiping the puck from in front past goalie Peter Budaj.Its nice seeing it go in. Ive been missing too many, Schwartz said. It was a huge play. I got it off my stick as quick as I could. I wanted to rip that one. Ive had some this year and missed.Allen got his first shutout this season and the 12th in his career.You just keep playing your game and try not to let anything faze you, Allen said. If you need a shutout, so be it, but you dont want to get too far ahead of yourself. Its just sort of one minute at a time.Schwartz got the first goal by a Blues forward in 169 minutes, 22 seconds. Vladimir Tarasenko also assisted on Schwartzs first goal of the season.Los Angeles challenged the play for offsides, but the goal was upheld.Budaj had 24 saves. He had won five straight dating to last season.I think its just sometimes good players make a good play, Budaj said about the goal. Its a nice play for them, give credit to them. Sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you dont.Before Schwartzs goal, the action was sparse in a hard-hitting game. Los Angeles had just 10 shots in each of the first two periods, and the Blues had 13 shots after two periods.This was no day at the beach for either team, this type of game, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. This was a heavy, hard, well-played hockey game.The Blues have had just one goal in five of their last six games.Were playing kind of like Italian soccer, 1-0, good defense, and its just one goal, Lehtera said. Its enough.St. Louis has won three in a row against the Kings, who entered play with a four-game winning streak -- three in overtime and one in a shootout.The Kings failed to score on five power-play opportunities. For the season, St. Louis has killed 30 of 32 power plays.Killing penalties is just work, Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. At the end of the day, your goalie is your best penalty killer and Jakes been coming up with some big saves.The Blues did not score on four chances with an extra man.Los Angeles defenseman Braden McNabb left early in the third period with an upper body injury and did not return.Game notes St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo has a lower body injury and will be evaluated in 10 days. Bortuzzo was injured early in the third period in Thursdays 2-1 shootout loss to Detroit. Bortuzzo was skating to the bench after serving a minor penalty and collided with a Red Wings player. ... This game was the only regular season meeting for the teams in St. Louis. The other two games will be played in Los Angeles. ... The Blues announced Bob Plagers No. 5 would be officially retired. Plager will join Al MacInnis, Bob Gassoff, Brian Sutter, Brett Hull, Bernie Federko and his brother, Barclay Plager, as the only players to receive the honor from the Blues. Plager was recognized during the first period. The official ceremony featuring the banner with his number raising will take place Feb. 2 when the Blues host the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Bouwmeester skated in his 999th regular season game.UP NEXT:Los Angeles: Play at Chicago on Sunday.St. Louis: Play at the New York Rangers on Tuesday. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Cheap Jerseys From China . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. http://www.jerseysstitchedcheap.com/ . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. NFL Jerseys Cheap . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Wholesale Jerseys Authentic . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. What a start to the final day of the Evolution Championship Series.Mortal Kombat XL started with a dominating performance by Critical Reactions Dominique SonicFox McLean. His quick work on opponents fueled the idea that everyone else was just fighting for second place. But the audience and SonicFox learned quickly that he was not infallible.SonicFox began his title defense in typical commanding fashion with a 3-0 series win over Orbits Alexandre MTL Hayatei Dubé-Bilodeau. After his first victim, he cakewalked into the grand finals with yet another 3-0 series victory against PLGs Sayed Tekken Master hashim Ahmed. Unfazed by the pressure of the situation, he delivered some of the most lopsided moments of this Evo tournament.It wasnt until the second game of the grand finals that SonicFox suffered his first game loss. But, from then on, the audience was exposed to just how human this overshadowing force was. He removed his blue ears and showed unfiltered emotion as he took on the greatest challenge of his career. It wasnt until he finished off the final game in his signature overwhelming SonicFox style that he returned to his cocky, permanently smiling self.The contenders: Scar and Tekken MasterIf SonicFox was the easy favorite for the tournament, Panda Globals Brad Scar Vaughn was considered the second-best to play in the top eight bracket. His understanding of Sonya Blade in his signature demolition variation could only be described as expert. From offensive and defensive traps to near full screen conversions, he provided the audience with the comeback moments that make Mortal Kombat so exxciting to watch at high level.dddddddddddd Unfortunately for him, Tekken Master was the roadblock. In fact, he was the star of the show.Tekken Master needed all the composure in the world to enter the grand finals of Mortal Kombat. He had been sent to the losers bracket by SonicFox in demoralizing fashion and then nearly choked on a 2-0 lead over Scar in the losers finals. His confidence never wavered, even when he switched to DVorah from his comfort pick of Kotal Kahn. The perennial underdog proved his bite was just as dangerous as his bark.The grand finals: SonicFoxs limitIt was all Tekken Master and Kotal Kahn. His decision to ignore the projectiles and traps that SonicFox threw at him with Cassie Cage and Erron Black was absolutely key to the entire first set of the grand finals. Showing no concern for his opponents offensive game plan, Tekken Master dominated the offensive momentum and neutral game. He absolutely drowned SonicFox for the bracket reset.The second set started exactly the way Tekken Master began the first final set: armor through faulty block strings, conversions off trades, ignorance of traps, and unrelenting pressure. But, finally, SonicFox showed up. He returned to his fearless and stubborn ways by fighting at his own pace. With the set tied at 2-2, SonicFox brought out his secret weapon and the last piece to his tournament puzzle, Alien. Two rounds, constant pressure, and complete corner control and SonicFox became two-time Evo champion. ' ' '