Chicago Blackhawks give Los Angeles Kings a royal thrashing with 3-1 win
When the Los Angeles arrived in Chicago, they had a mission – to give the home team a royal thrashing. However, the Kings were the ones that suffered the thrashing in the end, as the Blackhawks
beat them 3-1 on Wednesday, 27 October.
How it happened
Chicago opened the scoring early into the game, with Jake Dowell scoring his first goal of the season at 5:16 of the first period. Fernando Pisani and Duncan Keith picked the assists on
Dowell’s backhand shot. The Kings tied the game at one goal apiece at 9:34, thanks to a wrist shot from Justin Williams. Earning the assists on the play were David Drewiske and Peter Harrold.
Viktor Stalberg made it a 2-1 game for the Hawks 1:18 into the second period. His backhander beat rookie Jonathan Bernier, and was assisted by Keith and Dave Bolland. Stalberg’s goal proved
to be the game-winner, but Patrick Sharp would pad Chicago’s lead with another goal at 17:55 of the third period. Partick Kane and Brent Seabrook were the recipients of the assists on Sharp’s wrist shot. Sharp currently leads the National Hockey League in
goals, with nine tallies to his name.
Marty Turco stood tall in the Hawks’ net, making 33 saves to pick up the win. Kings counterpart Bernier saved 25 of 28 shots for the loss.
What they’re saying
The win came at a price for Chicago, who lost sniper Marian Hossa to an upper-body injury after the second period. Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said that Hossa will undergo a
re-examination to determine the nature of the injury.
“I know he came off there, and I don’t know if there was a direct blow, but we’ll see what happened," Quenneville said of Hossa’s injury.
If there’s one thing that Quenneville said his charges needed to work on, it was their defensive skills.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Quenneville. “We can get better. That’s not good enough for sure. They were throwing everything at the net. They weren’t trying to make plays into the slot.
They were looking for the jam stuff and Marty was very strong in those areas and very quick. That loose stuff around there is an area we can improve upon.”
The Kings were given many chances to cut into the Hawks’ lead, but the failed to capitalize on them. Kings’ head coach Terry Murray acknowledged that the bounces were just not going his
team’s way.
“We had our chances,” Murray said. “In the latter part of the second and early part of the third, there were excellent looks. They either had people in position or the goaltender made
the stop. Sometimes you get second and third whacks at it, and it doesn’t bounce the right way for you.”
The Hawks will get a chance to earn another win on Friday, 29 October when they host the Edmonton Oilers. Los Angeles’ next game will be against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, 30 October.
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