LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings are one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals following a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
The Kings jumped out in front midway through the first period while on the power play when defenseman Jake Muzzin fired a shot past Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford to put the Kings on top 1-0.
Less than three minutes later Kings forward Marian Gaborik tipped in an Anze Kopitar pass past Crawford, just before taking a big hit, to double the Kings lead to 2-0. It was more Kings later in the period when they found themselves on their second of three power plays in the game.
After a Muzzin shot was redirected, Kings captain Dustin Brown pounced on the loose puck and deposited it into the back of the net to make it 3-0 in favor of the Kings.
Despite few shots from both teams (eight for the Kings, seven for the Blackhawks), it was a dominating period for the Kings. That domination continued into the second period and 12:43 in, defenseman Drew Doughty beat Crawford with a wrist shot.
Despite giving up four goals, Crawford remained in the game and less than two minutes later, the Blackhawks finally got on the board. Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick with a backhand shot to cut the score to 4-1, but the Blackhawks were unable to cut into the deficit more before the end of the second period.
Midway through the third period, the Blackhawks made it a 4-2 game after Bryan Bickell backhanded a loose puck into the back of the net following a flurry of shots. Despite a strong Blackhawks attack, an empty net goal by Tanner Pearson with less than two minutes left in the game sealed the 5-2 win for the Kings, as well as a 3-1 lead in the series.
The series shifts back to the United Center in Chicago for Game 5 on Wednesday night at 8 pm (on the NBC Sports Network) where the Kings will look to close out the Blackhawks and punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Blackhawks meanwhile, will look to feed off the raucous Chicago crowd and force a Game 6 back in Los Angeles.
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