ST. LOUIS -- For the fifth time in their last six games, the St. Louis Blues scored one goal Saturday night. But it was the only one they needed.

Center Jaden Schwartz scored early in the third period and Jake Allen stopped 27 shots to give the Blues a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, snapping the Kings' four-game winning streak.

A pass from left winger Jori Lehtera set up the goal by Schwartz, his first of the season. He was playing in his fifth game after missing the first four because of an elbow injury.

"It was nice seeing it go in," Schwartz said. "We've had a lot of chances as a team and we're a little bit snake-bit right now. I wanted to rip that one, I've had a few of those this year and missed. I was a little frustrated of seeing them not go in."

There were a few moments of doubt about whether the goal would stand after the Kings challenged that the play was offside, but the challenge was denied after a video review.

"I was 100 percent sure he was offside because that was Schwartz's first goal," a joking Lehtera said. "We were pretty sure he was not going to get the decision, but finally he got it."

Getting the two points when they only scored once left the Blues able to joke about the goal and the game.

"We're playing kind of like Italian soccer, 1-0, good defense, and it's just one goal," Lehtera said. "It's enough."

It was enough because of the play of Allen, who earned his first shutout of the season and 12th of his career, and the Blues' penalty-killing unit. The Kings were 0 for 5 5 on the power-play, improving the Blues total for the year to 31 penalties killed out of 33 chances.

During their three games at home this week, the Blues scored a total of three goals, but still came away with three points.

"Nobody is going to care a month from now what the score was, they are just going to care if it was a W or a loss," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It's doesn't matter what the score is right now you've just got to get points. You can't keep playing well and not get points.

"These last two games if we don't get points in these games then you're on the verge of possibly starting to play a different way. You lose confidence in the way you're playing. Today was a big step for our team because our belief system of being able to stay with it won us a hockey game."

The fact that it was a 1-0 game did not surprise Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar, who has been involved in many similar games between these teams in recent years.

"Usually the score is 1 to nothing," Kopitar said. "It doesn't get much more exciting than that but I think both teams played hard, it's just the matter of finding one to put in the net and they did and we didn't."

Not being able to score on any of their power play chances, including a 22-second 5-on-3 advantage in the first period, was the difference in the game for the Kings.

Goalie Peter Budaj, who had won all four games during the Kings' streak -- three in overtime and one in a shootout -- gave credit to the Blues for the only goal.

"Sometimes good players make a good play," Budaj said. "It was too bad we couldn't get at least one or two but it works sometimes that way you know and sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you don't. The other games we got the bounces."

NOTES: The Blues will be without D Robert Bortuzzo for at least 10 days because of a lower-body injury suffered in Thursday night's game. The team is expected to recall a defenseman from Chicago of the AHL before playing Tuesday night against the Rangers in New York. ... After clearing waivers, Blues LW Magnus Paajarvi was assigned to Chicago. ... Blues LW Scottie Upshall was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. ... Scratched by the Kings were D Matt Greene, RW Teddy Purcell and C Jordan Nolan. ... The Kings are playing their first set of back-to-back games this season, making their only trip to Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Sunday night.