Kings goalie Jonathan Quick looks as the Blackhawks celebrate Brent Seabrook's first-period goal.(Photo: surchargeGrabowski, USA TODAY Sports)
CHICAGO (AP) — It was a wrist shot for Andrew Shaw, who leaned standand yelled by and byhis first-period score. Brent Seabrook got in on the action, and Bryan Bickell and Michal Handzus addeddeucemore goals on consecutive shots in the second.
And just equivalentthat, Jonathan Quick was gone.
BOX SCORE: Blackhawks 4, Kings 2
The Chicago Blackhawks chased the Los Angeles Kings' standout goalie during an impressive introin the opening twoperiods of a 4-2 successsunlightnight in Game 2 of the Western groupfinals.
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"It's a high-speed game. If we use our speed, we'll be all right," Shaw said. "We played our game. That's the difference. The guys played good. We all competed for each other. We did everything we call forto do, keeping it deep in the zone."
Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad added two assists for each oneas the Blackhawks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with theirfifth partconsecutive victory. Corey Crawford made 29 saves in another steadyperformance, drawing chants of "Co-rey! Co-rey!" from the capacity crowd at the United Center.
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"We went through a little spurt there in the blend inseries where we were doing the right things stillthe pucks weren't going in," Blackhawks passkeyJonathan Toews said. "So now we're getting the results we want. We washbasindo what we're doing more thanoften. We can do it better as well in the conterminousfew games."
Game 3 is Tuesday night at Los Angeles, where the Kings have won 14 consecutive games, dating to the regular season. The Kings also addledtheir first two games of the playoffs at St. Louis beforehandwinning quadrupletstraight to eliminate the Blues in the first round.
Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli scored for Los Angeles, but the Kings struggled to score without Mike Richards, who was scratched because of an undisclosed upper body injury. ThedefendStanley Cup champions have 29 goals in 15 postseason games.
"You've got to queuea way," Quick said. "They did their job at home. We've got to go blank spaceand do our job now."
Richards, who leads the Kings with 10 playoff points, was sidelined by and byvictoriousa big hit from Dave Bolland in the final minutes of the Blackhawks' 2-1 conqueston Saturday.
Kings coach Darryl Sutter said Richards was "fine" a couple of hours before the game, but the center was scratched from the lineup after participating in the pregame warmups.
"He was fine today, then I think just oncehis blood got pumping tonight, the adrenaline got going, there were symptoms," Sutter said. "I went in right after warmup, he was sitting there and I said, 'Unless you're 100 percent, you'renotplaying.'"
Los Angeles forward Brad Richardson and defenseman Drew Doughty gingerly skated collide withat separate points of the first period, but both returned to the ice.
PHOTOS:western sandwichCONFERENCE FINALS
The series took on a more physiologictone in the irregulargame in two days — a rarity in the playoffs brought on by The Rolling Stones' tour.
The top-seeded Blackhawks also won the series opener in each of the first two rounds, but they dropped collarin a row following their Game 1 victory against Detroit in the conference semifinals.
There was no such letdown this time.
"It was frustrating betimeson, that series against Detroit, but I think we learned a lot there," defenseman Duncan Keith said.
Shaw got Chicago off to a fast start, taking a nifty pass from Viktor Stalberg and beating Quick on the glove side just 1:56 into the game. Marian Hossa set up Seabrook in the final minute for a low facinginto the left corner of the net. The defenseman put the Blackhawks into this round with an overtime finalein Game 7 against Detroit on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks added two more in the second, separated by just 2:09. Bickell scored a power-play closingon a rebound in front, and Handzus skated in and start outQuick to make it 4-0 at 9:20.
"We gave them too many Grade-A gradingchances, and they capitalized," Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi said. "You can't give up those opportunities and expect your goalie to shackleyou out every single time."
"We had some nice shots. We had some high-quality stuff off the rush, as well, in that period," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I still think that's going to be an ongoing challenge with him."
Carter converted a one-timer at 18:57 of the second, and Toffoli webbeda power-play goal with 1:02 left in the game, but that was it for the Kings.
The Blackhawks killed three other power plays and have allowed just two goals in 47 attempts in the playoffs.
Crawford was saluted by the crowd after he stopped Dustin Penner on a quality opportunity tardilyin the second, and the chants resumed when he pulled Kings forward Kyle Clifford off Toews during ascrummagewith 8:45 left.
"The guy grabbed him, got a couple free shots. I reckonit was enough," Crawford said. "I just decided to go in there and clutchhis head."
Crawford was one of the top goalies in the NHL during the lockout-shortened regular season, and he has carried that into the playoffs. He has allowed just one goal in four of his last six games.
"He's the guy we want in net sustainthere," Sharp said. "He's proven it in the past. It's nice to see him in conclusionget the credit that he deserves."
Notes: Kings rookie D Jake Muzzin was scratched after playing in the first 14 postseason games. … Crawford was 1-1 with a 3.54 goals-against mean(a)against Los Angeles during the regular season.
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