Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Brad Richards scored twice to lead the
Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday in
a rematch of last season’s Western Conference Finals.
Daniel Carcillo and Brandon Saad also lit the lamp and Kris Versteeg supplied
two assists for the Blackhawks, who have won three straight and six of their
last seven games
Corey Crawford turned aside 19 shots in his 14th consecutive start.
Jordan Nolan had the lone goal for the Kings, who eliminated the Blackhawks in
a spirited seven-game series en route to their second Stanley Cup in three
seasons.
Jonathan Quick made 21 stops in defeat.
The Blackhawks wasted no time getting on the board as Carcillo batted a shot
out of mid-air for an early lead just 1:52 into the contest.
After Quick played the puck into traffic behind the net, Richards took a quick
pass from Versteeg and increased Chicago’s lead to 2-0 on a wrister with 2:01
to play in the first.
Nolan redirected Jake Muzzin’s shot from the top of the left circle to cut the
deficit in half 5:53 into the middle stanza.
Chicago regained its two-goal lead just over two minutes later. Michal
Rozsival received a pass in the slot from Versteeg and dished the puck over to
Richards, who tapped it in from the side of the net for his second of the
game.
Saad scored on an empty net with 1:49 to play and Crawford stopped four shots
in the third to preserve the win.
Game Notes
Richards fired a game-high five shots on net … Chicago will return home to
host the Blues on Wednesday after finishing 5-1-0 on its annual six-game
circus road trip … The Kings will face the Bruins at home on Tuesday.
