LOS ANGELES, CA (BDCi) – Being perfect at home through two rounds can definitely hide imperfections as the Los Angeles Kings have learned. However one must remain perfect to keep hiding these imperfections. After falling behind two games to none in their best of seven series against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Los Angeles Kings looked to continue that home perfection in game four of their series. Would the Kings succeed in keeping their home record unblemished? Let’s find out!
In the first period the Kings jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as defenseman Slava Voynov scored his sixth goal of the playoffs beating goaltender Corey Crawford just minutes into the game to give the Kings the lead. The Blackhawks would answer back though as Bryan Bickell scored his eighth goal of the playoffs on a shot that goaltender Jonathan Quick should have stopped. The puck was bouncing and Bickells shot was a knuckler that fooled Quick and slipped through the cracked of his leg pad and glove to find the back of the net. The score would remain tied at one through one period of play.
In the second period the Kings jumped out to another lead as Jeff Carter fired a shot on net that Dustin Penner was able to grab the rebound and shove in the net beating Corey Crawford to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately for the Kings that lead was short lived again as the Blackhawks tied it up again as Bryan Bickell took a shot that trickled through the legs on Jonathan Quick and Patrick Kane was there to tap in the puck to tie it up at two goals a-piece. The two teams would finish the second period scoring one goal each and sending the game into the third period tied at two.
At the start of the third period the Blackhawks were on a powerplay and they were able to take advantage of the extra skater as Michael Handzus sent a pass to Marian Hossa that he was able to shoot top shelf to beat a sliding Jonathan Quick to make it 3-2 Blackhawks. The Kings would try to rally all third period, however Corey Crawford continued to turn away shot after shot and the Kings fell to the Blackhawks by a score of 3-2.
The Kings now trail the Blackhawks three games to one in their best of seven series and will now need to win two games on the road and one at home if they want to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions.
by: Benjamin Robinson
Source: ESPN
June 7, 2013
1:26 pm PDT