Sunday, May 25, 2014
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
Jeff Carter had a goal and two assists, Tyler Toffoli scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Drew Doughty had a third-period goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves as the Kings returned to Staples Center with an impressive two-way effort against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Captain Jonathan Toews scored twice in the first period for the Blackhawks, but they didn’t score again until Patrick Sharp’s goal with five seconds left.
Corey Crawford stopped 28 shots for the Blackhawks, who have lost the first road game in 10 consecutive playoff series since 2010.
Game 4 is Monday night at Staples Center.
Slava Voynov scored an early power-play goal as the Kings moved halfway to their second Stanley Cup final in three years.
Three days after the Kings evened the series by scoring six consecutive goals in the final 22 minutes of Game 2,
Los Angeles didn’t relax and rely on its NHL-best defense.
Neither team played conservatively despite the stakes, instead trading tantalizing scoring chances for the first two periods. The Kings kept pushing for goals even while leading in the third, recording 18 shots and keeping the talented Blackhawks stuck in their own end for long stretches.
Los Angeles got another monster game from the line led by Carter, the imposing goal-scorer who had four points in the third period of Game 2.
In a 6:11 span of the second period of Game 3, Carter scored the tying goal off Tanner Pearson’s pass before setting up the go-ahead score by Toffoli, who has a goal in every game of the conference finals.
After Toews stressed the importance of playing with some anger in Game 3, the Canadian Olympian produced his first multigoal performance in 63 playoff games since May 7, 2010, when he had a hat trick against Vancouver.
The Blackhawks beat Los Angeles in five games in the conference finals last season, but the rematch hasn’t been nearly as smooth for Chicago. Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell haven’t score a goal in the conference finals, while Sharp’s last-gasp goal was his first of the series.
Toews put Chicago ahead just 5:26 into Game 3 with a spectacular unassisted goal, stealing the puck from Justin Williams and beating Quick between the legs.