LOS ANGELES—The Central Division leaders toyed with the Kings from start to finish only to humiliate them on their ice. Chicago’s first and second lines scored pairs of goals in the first and third periods to hold off the Kings’ effort in a 5-3 loss on Monday. Patrick Kane ended the night with a pair of goals and an assist in their first win in the month of February.
With the Kings having all sorts of trouble with power teams from the east, a match against a Western Conference team looked to change the tide of LA’s troubles. The idea didn’t fly their way, as the Hawks got right to work with Kane scoring on an early power play where he scored his 26th goal of the season, only two behind his teammate Patrick Sharp for the team lead. The Kings added another two minutes to their early mistakes, giving Chicagomore time to increase their lead. It came to end with Sharp receiving a double minor for high sticking Willie Mitchell.
The Kings had the chance to tie the game, but as their power play struggled in recent days, the chance of tying the match was slim to none. Frustration ran through the LA bench while Chicago fed on their problems. They easily made it 2-0 on Bryan Bickell’s drive from the far end, leaving Quick helpless to stop it, making it Bickell’s eighth on the year. The Blackhawks gave the Kings a break with one final chance on the man advantage that they connected on with the veteran lineup power play unit. Drew Doughty gained credit for his eighth goal, zipping one past Corey Crawford to cut the Chicagolead in half. The lone goal didn’t help their offense any further as they ended the first period with five shots.
After success on LA’s second-man advantage, the accuracy of their power play increased as Anze Kopitar scored with seven seconds left on the Niklas Hjalmarsson penalty with a wrister right off a pass from Jeff Carter that evened the score at two. The Blackhawks, who are not used to a fighting opposition, let down their vulnerability and went right back on the defense; the shots increased as Marcus Kruger scored his second on a shot from Nick Leddy that lost momentum at the crease for the center to tap in for his sixth.Chicago gave the Kings 15 shots on the goal while they settled for five, but the return of the lead and the Blackhawks’ third period defense was a feat not easily accomplished.
Both teams opened the third with a desperate attempt to gain the lead, but the Blackhawks were clearly the stronger group as seven minutes into the period saw Nick Leddy scoring his first goal since December 23, on a drive gaining back their two-goal lead from earlier. The margin only grew bigger as Kane scored his second of the night on a tip-in to put a large obstacle in LA’s way. The Kings made a show of force 33 seconds later with a goal from Tyler Toffoli, but the margin was far too great for a team barely holding on to their third place spot in the Pacific.
The Blackhawks, winning the second of the their last seven matches, hope to gain a lot of ground, with St Louis behind by three points in their division. The Kings have no time to rest as they host yet another east conference team that finds them on a three-game winning streak that comes to Staples on Tuesday.
