On Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks finally halted the Los Angeles Kings’ remarkable home win streak. Exactly one year after their last home loss, which came at the hands of the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, the Kings failed to maintain their undefeated postseason record at the Staples Center, and as a result they must win on Saturday night in Chicago or their defense of Lord Stanley’s hardware will officially come to a close.
The Blackhawks came from behind twice to finally storm the Kings’ castle, and the Madhouse on Madison now expectantly await a potential Saturday sighting of the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, which is of course also held by Los Angeles.
Early on, the star-studded Staples Center crowd saw the plan unfolding perfectly. Three and a half minutes into the game, a black and silver rush descended on Corey Crawford. The ensuing chaos offered the Kings one or two rebound opportunities, but then Kyle Clifford cleverly opted to look for the wide open Slava Voynov in the high slot. The red hot Voynov got everything behind his slap shot and beat Corey Crawford to the stick side. The opening goal was Voynov’s sixth of the playoffs and gives him a total of five points in the last two games.
If the mercury has been rising for Voynov lately, Chicago’s Bryan Bickell is also running a fever. Later in the first, the Hawks winger came into the zone with speed and stumped Jonathan Quick, with a wicked wrister to tie the game at one. Quick got a pad to the shot, but didn’t do enough to keep Bickell from extending his scoring streak to three games. The underrated forward has stepped up during Jonathan Toews‘ extended slump, and he now has five tallies in his last seven contests.
The Kings reclaimed the lead two minutes into the second. Crawford denied Jeff Carter‘s initial chance from point-blank range, but Dustin Penner completed the job with a backhand from the edge of the crease. Penner’s third goal of the postseason would hold up for most of the period, but the Blackhawks would even the score once again before heading to the dressing room.
After a flurry of wild chances around the Kings’ net, the puck came to Niklas Hjalmarsson at the point. Picking up his second assist of the game, Hjalmarsson let fly, and a Bickell deflection helped redirect the puck past Quick. Desperate to keep Bickell from hogging all the glory with his second goal of the game, Patrick Kane dove into the crease to tap home the trickling puck which may have already been across the line. Despite being robbed on the scoresheet, Bickell was more than happy to celebrate the equalizer with his blonde-bearded teammate.
Chicago would net the go-ahead goal just one minute into the final period, with Marian Hossa doing the honors. Entering the zone 2-on-1 Michal Handzus slid a pass across to Hossa who ripped a one-timer by a sprawling Jonathan Quick. After that the Blackhawks locked down their opponents and cruised to their third win of the series.
The trailing Kings tested Corey Crawford only twice in the third, quietly spectating as the Blackhawks took a stranglehold on the series. Down three games to one and headed back to a very hostile United Center, the defending champs are on their last legs.
The Blackhawks have their opponents right where they want them, but clinching games are notoriously hard to win. The Detroit Red Wings learned that in the last round, when the Blachawks rebounded from a 3-1 hole. The Chicago club has been the better team for most of the series, but its not over until the handshake line forms.
