NHL notes: Blues could be without Pietrangelo for Game 2

ST. LOUIS — Just like the first round, the St. Louis Blues dropped the series opener at home.

Unlike the first round, they have serious injury issues heading into Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Kings.

Top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was not at practice on Sunday, the morning after getting checked face-first into the boards by Dwight King in St. Louis' 3-1 loss. Though coach Ken Hitchcock did not rule out Pietrangelo for Monday night, he's decided on Ian Cole as a potential replacement.

Cole, a first-round pick in 2007, played 26 games in the regular season and would make his playoff debut.

The eighth-seeded Kings have won four in a row on the road in the playoffs, taking out the Presidents' Trophy-winning Canucks in five games in the first round. Now they have a chance to take command against the second-seeded Blues.

SEMIN IN DOGHOUSE: On the first off day of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, it was easy to see which club jumped out on top in the opener.

The top-seeded Rangers held an optional practice Sunday, a day after their 3-1 victory at home over seventh-seeded Washington. The Capitals had everyone on the ice at Madison Square Garden, and lined them up in quite a curious manner.

Alexander Semin, who had three goals for Washington in its first-round upset of defending Stanley Cup champion Boston, skated as a fourth-liner Sunday after he took two penalties in the series-opening loss to the Rangers. Semin was on a line with Mike Knuble and Keith Aucoin, but it might have just been a practice ploy by Capitals coach Dale Hunter and not a predictor of what might occur Monday night in Game 2.