Los Angeles 3, Chicago 2
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 8, 2017
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Referees:
Kevin Pollock, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen:
Shane Heyer, Kiel Murchison
Attendance:
18230
By The Sports Xchange
LOS ANGELES -- In their final home game of a disappointing season, the Los Angeles Kings gave their fans some optimism that next season will not end in mid-April.
The Chicago Blackhawks turn their attention to a far bigger prize as they return to the Windy City.
Drew Doughty scored the game-winning goal and Jeff Carter registered three assists as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime Saturday.
Los Angeles (39-35-7) won for the fourth time in its last six games. Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown scored the other goals while Jonathan Quick made 25 saves.
Chicago (50-23-9) lost its fourth straight game and finished the season with 109 points. The Blackhawks will have home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
Artemi Panarin and Jonathan Toews scored the Chicago goals. Corey Crawford made 23 saves.
With Chicago coach Joel Quenneville suiting up most of his regulars for one final tune-up prior to the playoffs, the Blackhawks appeared to have ended the season on a high note by beating one of their big rivals. The Kings got a small consolation prize by executing in the final minute of regulation and first minute of overtime to take home the two points.
"It was a solid game by our team. I think we played pretty well," Kings center Anze Kopitar said. "Our penalty kill was pretty good; we didn't take too many penalties to begin with. We got the power play goal and the OT so that was the difference."
The Blackhawks face Nashville in the first round of the playoffs beginning next week at the United Center.
"I think our last two games we did some decent things, and it would have been nice to win today. We put ourselves in the position we wanted at the start of the year," Quenneville said. "That was our motivation to be first in the division and get the conference. That's a lot of hard work and there were some ups and downs along the way and we had a stretch here at the end, I don't know how many games where everything was sealed, so it was almost like ok let's get ready to play for keeps."
Crawford agreed with his coach that this game has benefit for Chicago.
"It was a great game by us to get the right habits in there,'' Crawford said.
Doughty converted a Carter pass at the goalmouth to finish a two-on-one rush 27 seconds into overtime.
Brown tied the score at 2 with his 13th goal of the season at 19:05 of the third period. Brown backhanded a feed from Anze Kopitar with Carter registering the second assist.
Panarin took a cross-ice pass from Patrick Kane to score his 31st goal of the season at 13:53 of the third period with Duncan Keith gaining the additional assist.
Los Angeles tied the score at 1 on Toffoli's 16th goal of the season on the power play at 4:52 of the third period. Kopitar fed Toffoli for a one-timer that beat Crawford, with Carter drawing the secondary assist.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead on Toews' 21st goal of the season at 6:25 of the first period. He gained possession behind the Los Angeles goal line and circled the net uncovered to fire a wrist shot that got through Quick. Keith and Nick Schmaltz drew assists.
NOTES: The day was dedicated to Kings play-by-play Hall of Fame announcer Bob Miller, who is retiring after a 44-year career. Video tributes were shown throughout the game and the 78-year-old Miller participated in the postgame Jersey Off Their Backs ceremony. The team has not yet named a successor. ... Chicago scratched D Niklas Hjalrmasson, D Michal Kempny, C Andrew Desjardins, RW Tomas Jurco, C Artem Anisimov, D Michal Rosival and C Vinnie Hinostroza. ... Joel Quenneville coached his 700th game behind the Blackhawks bench. ... Los Angeles did not dress C Andy Andreoff, C Nic Dowd, D Kevin Gravel and C Jordan Nolan. ... The Kings finish the regular season Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. ... D Brayden McNabb appeared in his 200th game in a Kings uniform.
Top Game Performances
| Chicago |
|
Los Angeles |
|
Duncan Keith 2 |
Points |
Jeff Carter 3 |
|
Artemi Panarin 1 |
Goals |
Dustin Brown 1 |
|
Duncan Keith 2 |
Assists |
Jeff Carter 3 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Tyler Toffoli 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Corey Crawford .885 |
Save Percentage |
Jonathan Quick .926 |
|
Corey Crawford 23 |
Saves |
Jonathan Quick 25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Chicago
|
27 |
2 |
0-3 |
1-2 |
4 |
28 |
| Los Angeles
|
26 |
3 |
1-2 |
3-3 |
6 |
35 |
Upcoming Games
-
Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Anaheim. The Kings have a W/L % of .474 after a win and .488 after a loss.
-
Chicago will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Blackhawks have a W/L % of .660 after a win and .531 after a loss.
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