The Blues admitted in recent days that after a nine-day layoff, they might be rusty in the opening period of Friday's game against Los Angeles. The word to describe their play began with an "r," but restless was a more accurate description.

The club rang up 12 shots and 15 hits in the first period and showed no signs of taking the longest break of any team in the NHL.

"We started out pretty good actually, but I don't know how that was because I felt terrible," the Blues' Matt D'Agostini said. "I couldn't skate."

Evidently D'Agostini found his legs, which he used to create the only scoring play of the game. D'Agostini set up Jamie Langenbrunner for his fourth goal of the season, and goaltender Jaroslav Halak made it stand with a 22-save shutout, his fourth in his last seven games.

"For the first game out of the box, it was a great playoff game," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I'm really happy with the way we competed. I thought the first period was as good as we've played in a month."

The Blues' narrow victory ended a two-game winless skid and improved the team to 14-0-3 in its last 17 games at Scottrade Center. They stretched their league-best record at home to 22-3-4.

"St. Louis has the best home record in the league for a good reason," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said afterward. "They came out and physically established themselves."

The Blues, who picked up their 30th victory overall, will now embark on a three-game road trip starting tonight in Nashville. The lineup, already without forwards Alex Steen and Andy McDonald, could be without veteran center Jason Arnott. He left the game with 8:41 left in regulation after being checked by LA's Dustin Brown and sliding hard into the boards. He is day to day with a shoulder injury.

"He's going to be on the trip and we'll see how he feels in the morning, but it's not significant right now," Hitchcock said.

Several Blues may be sore in the morning. Taking the ice for the first time since a 2-1 shootout loss to Pittsburgh Jan. 24, the Blues were dialed in early against LA on Friday. Captain David Backes revved up the crowd by leveling the Kings' Anze Kopitar with an open-ice hit.

They would have everything they wanted from the period except for a goal. David Perron, who had had 13 points in his last 14 home games, hit the post shortly after Backes' big hit, keeping the Blues off the board.

But although their scoring failed to pick up immediately after the break, the Blues' defense and goaltending picked up where it left off. The team didn't allow LA a shot on goal for the final 11 minutes, 13 seconds of the first period, outshooting the Kings 9-0 over that stretch.

Halak entered Friday's game 11-1-3 in his last 15 starts, but he hadn't played since the Blues' 3-1 loss to Detroit on Jan. 23. He made several key stops beginning the second period, keeping the game scoreless.

"Tonight, I was able to make the saves — some nights I need our guys to step and score some goals," Halak said. "Tonight that wasn't the case."

Halak needed only one goal and it came with 11:22 left in the second period, as Langenbrunner snapped a 10-game scoring drought.

From the defensive zone, Alex Pietrangelo poked the puck ahead to D'Agostini, who raced up the right boards and chipped the puck past Kings defenseman Drew Doughty before centering a pass. As D'Agostini prepared for the feed, Langenbrunner geared up for a slap shot, which he ripped past goalie Jonathan Quick.

"I was just able to get open and he laid it on my stick," Langenbrunner said. "He did a great job skating and getting by 'D.'"

Said D'Agostini: "I think I caught (Doughty) in between and managed to slip by him. It was good that it happened right by our bench. They were yelling that I had another guy with me. I saw 'Langs' was there and the lane was open. He's got a bomb; I don't know why he doesn't score more often."

Halak followed the goal with brilliant leg saves on Dustin Brown and Colin Fraser in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the second period. He finished it off his fifth shutout of the season, matching Brian Elliott and giving the Blues their NHL-best 10th. At one point, the crowd starting chanting "Jaro, Jaro."

"I wasn't sure it was my name," Halak said. "When everybody gets into it, it's really hard to hear. It's really nice that people recognize me and cheer for me, but it's a team effort every time we win."