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Blues coach expects Kings’ best in Game 6

Ken Hitchcock

The St. Louis Blues have given the Los Angeles Kings a serious battle in their first-round series, yet they find themselves down 3-2 nonetheless. Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock believes that matching the Kings’ level of play won’t be good enough to push it to a deciding Game 7.

“You have to outplay the team. You can’t expect to play at the same level and win the hockey game. It doesn’t happen,” Hitchcock said. “I’ve been in this situation a number of times and come through, and it’s been the same similar landscape. We have to outplay them today. If we play at the same level, it’s not going to be good enough.”

“I know we’re going to get their best push because they don’t want to go back to St. Louis ... But I know we have it in us to outplay them.”

Despite stating a desire (if not need) to outplay the Kings, Hitchcock has seen some things that he likes from the Blues.

“For me, the way we played (in Game 5), that’s something we’ve got to build on,” Hitchcock said. “That’s all you can ask for this time of year. You need an all-in mentality and we had that. We need to come with the same mentality for Game 6.”

The two teams will face off at 10 p.m. ET on Friday. You can watch it on NBC Sports Network.