Los Angeles Kings Take On Chicago Blackhawks – 6/1/2014

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Los Angeles Kings June 1, 2014 - 4:34 pm 0 155 Views

In a game heard live on KHTS, the LA Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks by a final score of 5-4 in game 7 of the Western Conference finals and advance to the Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers!

Final Score
Kings: 5, Blackhawks: 4

From NBC Sports:
The 2014 Western Conference finals received the great game this spellbinding series deserved. Ultimately, the Los Angeles Kings edged the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 5-4 in overtime to advance to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final against the New York Rangers.

Alec Martinez‘s shot took an odd bounce off of Nick Leddy to decide the series with the kind of bounce that often determines playoff overtime contests.

“We’re like cockroaches,” Martinez told NBCSN. “We don’t go away.”

The Kings saw their 3-1 series lead dissolve into a 3-3 tie, yet it gave them another chance to display their resounding resilience. They’ve done something that no other team has done: with three road Game 7′s in the same postseason. If nothing else, they would host the Rangers in a Game 7 if the championship round goes that far.

A fitting end

Really, Game 7 seemed like a microcosm of the 2014 Western Conference finals as a whole. There was a frenzy of goals, the Blackhawks’ leads barely lasted (Los Angeles tied it three times tonight) and then the contest settled into a nail-biter.

The first period provided that frenzy. The Blackhawks charged out to a 2-0 lead, yet some great shots and shaky goaltending ensured that there wasn’t a dull moment. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick likely didn’t feel very confident about their games going into the first intermission … although the familiarity of it all likely dulled that tension.

The two teams traded goals in the second period to set up a tense third period. With the Kings’ season on the line, Marian Gaborik found a way to push this series into the first conference final Game 7 overtime since the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils back in 1994.

Quick made 37 out of 41 saves as he finished strong while Crawford has the toughest night even before that game-winner (which wasn’t really his fault), allowing five goals on 32 Kings shots.

This marks the Kings’ second Stanley Cup Final appearance in the last three seasons while Chicago’s title defense comes to an end. A lot can change in this parity-friendly salary cap era, yet the feeling is that these two teams may very well fight for the West crown for the foreseeable future.

If that’s the case, they’ll struggle to top this instant-classic series.

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