Playoff Results - Wed, May 21, 2014

Los Angeles @ Chicago 6-2 - Series Tied 1-1

The Los Angeles Kings provided a synopsis of their entire postseason in one evening Wednesday. They yielded two goals on poor transition play to fall behind against an opponent that appeared to be giving them fits with its speed. Then goaltender Jonathan Quick made some saves to keep them in the game, and once the Kings got rolling offensively, they dominated. Jeff Carter had a hat trick and an assist, part of a six-goal outburst in less than 20 minutes, and the Kings evened the Western Conference Final with a 6-2 victory in Game 2 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. It was the Blackhawks' first home loss of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Chicago won all three games in this building against Los Angeles last season in the conference finals, in which the Blackhawks prevailed in five games. Los Angeles was 0-7 all-time in Chicago in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Saturday at Staples Center (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS). Chicago appeared to be in control and en route to an eighth consecutive home victory in these playoffs, but the game turned quickly and the Blackhawks could not recover. The themes of this postseason for the Kings have included the ability to put losses behind them and come back from improbable deficits. It's also been about finding scoring throughout the lineup. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik have carried the offense at times, but it was the power play and Carter's line that left the Blackhawks wondering what happened. It was also just another disadvantage overturned by the defiant Kings. Two power-play goals early in the third period changed the course of Game 2 in short order. Drew Doughty faked a slap shot at the top of the offensive zone after a pass from Slava Voynov, and instead opted for a wrist shot through an array of bodies, including Carter at the edge of the crease. Carter got his stick on the puck and tipped it past goalie Corey Crawford at 1:37 to get the Kings even at 2-2. Defenseman Jake Muzzin gave the Kings a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal from the left circle at 4:04 with Chicago playing down a man after a bad line change resulted in a bench minor for too many men. The Blackhawks had yielded one power-play goal in their first seven playoff games at United Center. Midway through the third, the rebound of a shot from Carter went high in the air behind Crawford. Several players on the ice slowed or stopped, as if they expected it to hit the protective netting. It did not and landed behind the goal. Kings forwardTanner Pearson retrieved it and sent a pass to fellow rookie Tyler Toffoli, who scored his fifth goal of the postseason at 8:59. Carter scored two insurance goals after a string of odd-man rushes while the Blackhawks pressed to get back into the game. One came on a 2-on-1 with 5:16 left, the other was into an empty net with 3:31 to go. Carter's four points in the third period tied an NHL playoff record, and his three goals tied a Kings postseason record set by Tommy Williams on April 14, 1974, also against Chicago. The Blackhawks were up 2-0 and appeared to be en route to a 2-0 series lead, but Justin Williams started the Kings' rally late in the second period. Mike Richards threw the puck to the front of the net and Williams was there to direct it past Crawford for his sixth goal of the postseason with 1:46 left. Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy had the only goal of a penalty-filled first period. After Patrick Kane dumped the puck into the zone, the Kings actually created a 3-on-2 shorthanded rush the other way, but Carter couldn't knock down the puck when it came to him at the right post. Instead, Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith corralled it along the wall and sent a long, diagonal pass to Leddy near the Los Angeles blue line. He cut past Matt Greene and backhanded a shot past Quick at 14:16. Ben Smith made it 2-0 at 1:40 of the second period when Chicago caught Los Angeles during a line change. DefensemanJohnny Oduya collected the puck behind his net and sent a long stretch pass Brandon Bollig deflected onto the stick of Smith at the opposite blue line. Smith was behind the defense and snapped a shot past Quick inside the near post. The Blackhawks had chances to extend the lead, but Quick was unbeatable after the second goal. The late goal in the second gave the Kings some added energy, and the third period looked a lot like Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round Series against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center, a lot of offense from the team in white.

Dustin Brown: "I think this is a huge game for our approach [and] I guess, our psyche. Kind of like slaying the mythical dragon. We've been dominated by this team over the last couple of years. To come in here and get a win in their building with the type of home record they have, I think gives us a boost in confidence."

Joel Quenneville: "I really liked how we played for 38 minutes. We did everything we were looking to do. They got a little momentum at the end of the period scoring a big goal for them on an innocent play, gave them some life. The way it turned on a dime like that, I don't know if we've seen a game like that all year where we're doing everything all right and all of a sudden it was a disaster."

Jarret Stoll: "It's not that we're comfortable, well, maybe we're a little comfortable being behind. We're used to it I guess. You never quit, you can't quit. Crazy things can happen when you score. You can't quit until it's over, and that's all it is. We have the right guys in there and the right coaches and the right attitude. You keep pushing and pushing."

Jonathan Toews: "You're bound to give up something. If they score a goal to pull within one it doesn't mean they have to score six unanswered. I think we always want to close out periods. We want to try to keep that momentum going into the next one but sometimes it happens. So we just needed to find a way to bounce back early in that third and we didn't do it."

Doughty said of the Kings' attitude during the second intermission: "We were just staying positive. We knew we could win this game. We knew we hadn't had our best effort yet. We knew the third period was going to be our best period of this series so far. We were just adamant in here about coming out and getting pressure and getting a goal early, and we did that."

Playoff Results - Mon, May 19, 2014

NY Rangers @ Montreal 3-1 - Rangers Lead Series 2-0

The Canadiens came out fast and ferocious Monday night, clearly sparked by emotion for so many reasons. But it wasn't enough, not against Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who turned aside 40 of 41 shots to lift the visitors to a 3-1 victory at Bell Centre and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final. It was the first time in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games that the Rangers had won after taking a lead in a series. Game 3 is Thursday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, RDS). Montreal forward Max Pacioretty scored 6:14 into the first period, giving the Canadiens a positive result after a fast start in which they got the first five shots on goal and were constantly cycling and dominating time of possession in the Rangers' zone. Lundqvist turned aside the final 35 shots he faced. The goal by Ryan McDonagh 17 seconds after Pacioretty scored had something to do with it too. The Canadiens had everything going for them early in the game. They were clearly being carried by the emotion in the building and the inspiration they felt from within. There was the 7-2 loss in Game 1 on Saturday that they felt they had to make up for. They were buoyed by the storyline of Carey Price, their starting goalie and arguably their best player, who was forced to watch while wearing a suit and tie and a knee brace on his right leg because of the collision he had with Rangers forward Chris Kreider in Game 1. There was also the fact as a result of Price's injury, one that Therrien said will keep him out for the remainder of the series, the Canadiens were playing in front of a rookie goalie, Dustin Tokarski, who was making his playoff debut. He had appeared in 10 career regular-season games. Not lost in the shuffle were the 21,273 screaming fans inside Bell Centre, who booed Kreider every time he touched the puck and roared for Tokarski when his name was announced in the starting lineup. The Canadiens used it all to get off to a strong start. They even grab a lead on Pacioretty's goal, but they couldn't build on it. McDonagh tied the game at 6:31 with a shot from inside the left point that hit off Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges and the left post before scurrying behind Tokarski at 6:31. McDonagh added an assist later and now has six points in the series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McDonagh is the first Rangers defenseman to record six points in a two-game span in the postseason since Brian Leetch earned three points in back-to-back games in New York’s first round series against the Quebec Nordiques in 1995. McDonagh, who was held pointless in his first 10 games of the postseason, has set career highs in goals (3), assists (6), and points (9). Nash made it 2-1 with 62 seconds remaining in the first period, scoring on a one-timer off a 3-on-2 rush with Kreider and Derek Stepan. After going 15 straight games without a goal, the longest scoring drought of his career, Nash now has two goals in the past two games. Lundqvist made Nash's goal stand up as the winner, but it helped that the Rangers picked up some insurance when Martin St. Louis scored on a power play at 8:03 of the second period to make it 3-1. Tokarski fought off the nerves to make 27 saves. Therrien wouldn't confirm him as the starter for Game 3, but he said they were happy with their decision to play him over Peter Budaj on Monday. Tokarski said he spoke with Price prior to the game, and the message was to "go out there, play your game, be a warrior." He was solid, but wasn't as big of a warrior as the goalie on the other side. That might have been impossible Monday night. Tokarski was pulled for an extra skater when the Canadiens went on a power play with 4:22 remaining in the game, but Lundqvist came up with five saves during the 6-on-4 and Montreal's power play fell to 0-for-7 in the series. Lundqvist made 19 saves in the third period, matching his career high for most in a period in the postseason. He had 19 saves in the second period of a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals on April 22, 2009.

Michel Therrien: "The reason why we lost the game was Lundqvist. Lundqvist was phenomenal. Phenomenal. Stole the game. Tokarski did really well,"

Alain Vigneault: "Lundqvist's the only reason why we were still in the game. I think he might be getting that little touch around the net back. That's a really good sign for us."

Chris Kreider: "It was an amazing contrast. It was such a loud building, such a loud building, probably the loudest I've ever been in when they scored, but to be able to pot a quick one like that it's huge. You can't speak enough about it."

Henrik Lundqvist: "To tie it up quickly like that, that was important to even out the momentum a little bit. The first period was a tough one. We knew they were going to come hard and they had a really strong 20 minutes there, but then going out in the second with the lead it felt good, we felt confident and I felt like we played really strong in the second and third. The third goal obviously was huge for us. You have to win in different ways and this was definitely a battle from the start. Then we came back to basics, I felt like, especially in the second and third. You go out and you have a lot of expectations on you, but you put a lot of pressure on yourself so it's about finding the perfect place mentally where you feel like I can handle this, and you want to enjoy it at the same time. It's fun to be out there even though it's chaos at times and extremely intense. There are moments throughout the game where you really enjoy it and there's moments when you're not sure why you're out there because it's that intense. But it's definitely a great feeling when you come together as a group and pull off a big win like this. It's awesome."

Tokarski said of Lundqvist: "He's a superstar at the other end and he played like it. That was probably the difference."

Carey Price injured during Game 1

Milan Lucic Book Irony

Milan Lucic of the Boston Bullies sank to new depths with his pre-game hand-shake comments during the fiery playoff series with the Montreal Canadiens. Read the following link to see why his actions had just a hint of irony:


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/here-s-milan-lucic-s--not-cool-to-bully-in-school---the-updated-version--video-055615354.html

St Louis Blues Drop Ryan Miller

The St. Louis Blues paid a hefty price when they acquired goaltender Ryan Miller from the Buffalo Sabres in February. But after an unsuccessful run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that ended in a disappointing loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference First Round, the Blues are moving away from Miller and again turning to a familiar face. The team announced Monday that it resigned goalie Brian Elliott to a three-year, $7.5 million extension and will team Elliott with incumbent Jake Allen for the 2014-15 season, meaning Miller will become an unrestricted free agent in July. In 19 regular-season games with the Blues, Miller went 10-8-1 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .903 save percentage, and followed it with a 2-4 record, 2.70 GAA and .897 save percentage in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong chose to move on with the tandem of Elliott and Allen, the American Hockey League goalie of the year this past season with the Chicago Wolves.

"We took a calculated gamble of bringing in Ryan and we didn't have the success that we needed as an organization," Armstrong said in a conference call. "Certainly it was not all reflected on Ryan. It's a team game and as an organization we're all responsible, but it was additional payments necessary to Buffalo if we signed Ryan that would have basically meant moving back a full round in the draft from a first to a second round and adding a third-round pick. We just felt at this time it was better for us to go with Elliott and go with Jake Allen. They provide us with a good tandem as we move forward."

The Blues acquired Miller and forward Steve Ott from the Sabres for goalie Jaroslav Halak, right wing Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, a first-round pick in 2015 and a conditional draft pick. Had the Blues made the Western Conference Final or resigned Miller, the Blues also would have sent the Sabres their 2014 first-round pick, while the Blues would have received Buffalo's 2014 second- and third-round picks. If the Blues trade Miller's rights prior to making their first pick at the 2014 NHL Draft, they will have to send their 2014 first-round pick and a 2016 third-round pick to the Sabres but will get back the Sabres' 2014 second- and third-round picks. If they trade his rights after the draft the Blues will send the Sabres a 2016 second-round pick to complete the trade. Miller was considered the missing piece for the Blues, who felt like they had the necessary tools in all other areas to make a deep postseason run and perhaps win the franchise's first Stanley Cup. But after going 7-0-1 in his first eight games with the Blues, he won five of his final 17 regular-season and playoff games. Armstrong said he did have conversations with Miller and his camp, including agent Mike Liut. While Armstrong would not discuss specifics, a source indicated that Miller's monetary asking price was too steep for the Blues to move forward.

"I had a meeting with Ryan at the end of the year," Armstrong said. "I told him I'd get in touch with him. I talked to him last week. We've gone in this direction and we're excited with the tandem we have. We certainly gave up quite a bit to get Ryan. ... That's why the trade was made. It didn't work out that way obviously. This job is about second-guessing. That's the industry that I've chosen to be in. You make calculated decisions. You move forward. If they work you're hailed as a genius. If they don't work you're a dummy. We took a swing and at the end of the day we didn't accomplish what we needed to."

The 29-year-old Elliott, who would have become an unrestricted free agent in July, has done nothing but win since joining the Blues prior to the 2011-12 season. His 23-10-4 record with a League-leading 1.56 GAA and .940 save percentage in 2011-12 was part of a tandem with Halak that helped the pair win the William Jennings Trophy. Elliott is 55-24-7 in three seasons with the Blues. He went 18-6-4 with a 1.96 GAA and .922 save percentage this season but was on the bench during the postseason.

"When I talked to him at the end of the season his desire was to go to an organization where he could compete as a No. 1 goaltender and now we provide him with that," Armstrong said of Elliott. "He came here as an unknown and if you look at his save percentage and his goals-against average and his win-loss record, his numbers are very good. He's been through the maturation. When we got to the trade deadline, we didn't make a move because we didn't believe in [Elliott]. We made a move because we thought Miller could make a difference and take us to the Stanley Cup. That hasn't happened and now we move forward as an organization. Brian Elliott has done everything asked of him."

With Elliott, whose contract kicks in at $2.5 million per season (a raise of $1.9 million from last season) and Allen, whose contract will pay him $800,000, the Blues have $3.3 million tied up in their goaltending, which should free up money to pursue necessary ingredients to help them offensively; a lack of goal scoring has been a major reason for recent early playoff eliminations.

"We're always trying to improve our team, and if we can do that you look at there's still six weeks before July 1; you never know who's going to be there," Armstrong said. "... We have to make good, strong, calculated business decisions on July 1 and if we can improve our team on that date, we will. But it's going to have to be in the feeling that it's something that it improves us for the term of the contract."

The Blues are in search of a goalie coach after Corey Hirsch was not brought back. They have filled one assistant coaching position with the addition of former Carolina Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller, who replaced Gary Agnew, who also was not retained.

Playoff Results - Sun, May 18, 2014

Los Angeles @ Chicago 1-3 - Hawks Lead Series 1-0

Before this rematch of the 2013 Western Conference Final began, defenseman Drew Doughty provided a pretty good summation of why his team has closed the gap on the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who eliminated his Kings in five games last spring. Doughty mentioned the improvement of his partner Jake Muzzin, the advancement into regular roles of rookies Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson and NHL Trade Deadline acquisition Marian Gaborik. It was a well-reasoned answer, and the Kings may very well have enough to topple the defending champs. Game 1 of the 2014 Western Conference Final provided a glimpse of why the Blackhawks are slightly different from last season as well. The roster is full of largely the same players, but Brandon Saad has made significant strides during his sophomore season in the NHL. Saad had a goal and an assist Sunday afternoon to help the Blackhawks fend off the Kings in a 3-1 victory at United Center and take a 1-0 lead in this series. Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews also scored and goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves. The Blackhawks improved to 7-0 in this postseason at United Center. Game 2 will be played here Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS). It was a tightly-contested contest, just as Game 1 of the conference finals was last year when the Blackhawks prevailed 2-1 in this building. Chicago controlled the early moments, possibly in part because Los Angeles had played twice since the Blackhawks' most-recent game, including two nights before against the Anaheim Sucks. The Kings responded after falling behind by a goal and carried the play for stretches, but squandered a couple of key opportunities. Saad put the Blackhawks in front with a power-play goal at 14:46 of the opening period. After Brandon Bollig drew a post-whistle penalty on Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, the Blackhawks were able to keep the puck in the offensive zone for nearly the entire two minutes before Saad directed a Nick Leddy point shot past Quick two seconds before Martinez was set to be released from the box. Keith gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 8:06 of the second period. His shot from the left point deflected off the stick of Kings forward Trevor Lewis and past Jonathan Quick before the Los Angeles goaltender could find it. It was the first goal for a Blackhawks defensemen since the opening round. The play started with a turnover in the neutral zone by the Kings, and eventually Saad sent a diagonal pass from the right corner to Keith. Two of those players Doughty was talking about Saturday tied the score at 1-1. Shortly after a disallowed goal by Toews, rookies Pearson and Toffoli hooked up for a pretty score at 4:35 of the second. Pearson carried the puck toward the left corner and sent it to the top of the crease, where Toffoli beat Bollig to the spot and chipped one past Crawford. It was Toffoli's fourth goal of the postseason and Pearson's fifth assist. Los Angeles was looking for a tying goal, but Chicago struck on a beautiful counterattack for an insurance goal with 3:50 remaining in the third period. Toews finished a 3-on-1 with a one-timer from defenseman Johnny Oduya. Toews had a goal disallowed at 3:22 of the second period. The original call on the ice was the goal was good, but a discussion between the on-ice officials resulted in a no-goal decision because Toews made incidental contact with Quick before the puck crossed the goal line. It was not a reviewable play and the decision on the ice stood. Chicago is back in the Western Conference Final for the fourth time in six years. This is the third straight trip to the conference finals for the Kings, who won the Cup in 2012 and had their chance at a repeat ruined by the Blackhawks. Willie Mitchell was a surprise inclusion in the lineup after missing the past eight games with a lower-body injury.

Saad: "Yeah, home ice is big, especially Game 1 with two tough teams. It's going to be a long series, and you want to take care of your home games. [Sunday] was huge for us."

Willie Mitchell: "I think we played fairly well, but I think you have to play great to beat a good hockey club over there. We turned a few pucks over. They're a great rush team and they make you pay, and they did that today. I think we have to clean that up and don't make those turnovers in the neutral zone and don't allow those rush chances, which they're great at."

Duncan Keith: (scoring from the defense corps)"It helps. There are five guys on the ice, so there's no reason why five guys can't be in on the play."

Mike Richards: "We had a chance. We shot ourselves in the foot a bit on their goals. Give them credit, they're an opportunistic team. We made a couple mistakes and they ended up in our net."

Toews: "[We were] just trying to forget about it, not get too worked up about a call that didn't go our way. To add insult to injury, they came right back to score to tie it up not too long after. That's where we did a good job of just forgetting about what happened, moving on, focusing on our game, not getting away from them."

Toffoli: "I think we're good enough. I don't think we need to back down. We need to keep pushing the pace, keep playing hard. Like I said, we got to win Game 2 and go back to Staples [Center] and just keep playing well."

Playoff Results - Sat, May 17, 2014

NY Rangers @ Montreal 7-2 - Rangers Lead Series 1-0

Nobody could have seen this coming, not with the recent history between the teams, the elite goalies in the nets, and the 21,273 people in the stands going bonkers. Bell Centre was the Rangers' house of horrors entering Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday, but they wiped away any nightmarish thoughts they might have had with a 7-2 win against the Canadiens on Saturday. It's the first game in the past six between the Rangers and Canadiens that did not end with a shutout; New York had been shut out in five of its past seven games here. The nine goals scored are five more than the combined total from the three regular-season games this season. Henrik Lundqvist, who hadn't won in Montreal in more than five years, made 20 saves, and seven Rangers scored, including Rick Nash, who snapped his career-long goal drought at 15 games. Ryan McDonagh tied a Rangers record for most points in a Stanley Cup Playoff game by a defenseman (four; a goal and three assists). It was the first time the Rangers scored seven goals in a playoff game since April 17, 2007, when they defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 7-0. New York scored two goals in the first 6:27, two in the final 61 seconds of the second period, and three power-play goals in the first 4:36 of the third. Three times they scored twice in less than two minutes. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Monday at Bell Centre (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS). Montreal goalie Carey Price did not play the third period after giving up four goals on 20 shots. Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said he replaced Price with Peter Budaj to "protect him." There was concern early in the second period that Price was injured when Rangers forward Chris Kreider lost his balance and went barreling into the goalie's right knee with his skates ahead of him. Therrien said he thought the play was "accidental, honestly," and Kreider said he "just had too much momentum and couldn't really avoid him. It didn't feel too good for me either." Price stayed in the game after getting some attention from the trainer, but he allowed goals to Kreider off the rush and Brad Richards from the goal line on the left side late in the period as the Rangers extended their lead to 4-1. Canadiens forward Rene Bourque made it 2-1 at 12:38 of the second. Lars Eller scored a shorthanded goal for Montreal with 4:38 to go in the third. Lundqvist's personal struggles at Bell Centre were a major storyline heading into the series, and he won in the building for the first time since March 17, 2009. He hadn't played here since Jan. 15, 2012, and he was 0-3-1 with a 4.63 GAA and .862 save percentage in his previous four appearances in Montreal. The Rangers hadn't scored more than one goal in a game at Bell Centre since Jan. 15, 2011, when they lost 3-2. Nash's power-play goal at 4:36 of the third period gave the Rangers a 7-1 lead. It might have been a meaningless goal in the game, but it wasn't to Nash, who hadn't scored since April 10, the Rangers' second-to-last game of the regular season. McDonagh will be linked in the Rangers' record book with former captains Brian Leetch, Brad Park and Dave Maloney as the defensemen to have four points in a playoff game. Leetch was the most recent to do it, on June 7, 1994 against the Vancouver Canucks, the last time the Rangers played in the Stanley Cup Final. Martin St. Louis gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 4:35 with a one-timer off a backhand pass through the slot by Dominic Moore. Moore also made a backhand pass to get an assist on Zuccarello's goal that put New York up 2-0 1:52 after St. Louis scored. Moore played extended minutes (16:36 on 26 shifts) because the Rangers were short a center after Derick Brassard left the game with an apparent upper-body injury after taking a hard, open-ice hit from Montreal defenseman Mike Weaver early in the first period. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said Brassard is day-to-day.

Marc Staal: "Yeah, I'd say surprised. We're not surprised in the way we played. We had a great start to the game, set the tempo right from the beginning, and were able to convert on a couple, which is big in a road rink, especially here. We were able to carry that through."

Therrien: "We were not sharp in front of him. You never want to lose a game, but it's going to bring us back to earth. We, as a group, have to be ready to compete and play every night if we want to have a chance to win. So we put that game behind us, we've got to move forward, but that's a good lesson."

Lundqvist: "You guys [the media] like to talk about it, you like to ask me about it; I haven't played here in a while, but it's still the same game. Last time I played here, we had a different team, and I think I've grown as a goalie as well. But every time you play the game you have to show yourself and your teammates that you can play. So, yeah, we got a great start here and a good win, but it's about doing it again in the next one."

Nash: "It was nice to get that one"

McDonagh: "It could have been anyone [Saturday] the way we were really moving the puck and seeing plays happen"

Vigneault: "He did an unbelievable job"

Playoff Results - Fri, May 16, 2014

Los Angeles @ Anaheim 6-2 - Kings Win Series 4-3 (Bye Bye Sucks)

Jonathan Quick denied Corey Perry on a breakaway with such nonchalance he might as well have been sitting on his living room couch. It was about halfway through Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round series, and the play summed up the difference between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Sucks. The Kings' poise is as strong as a battleship, and the Sucks bounced off it like BBs on Friday in L.A.'s 6-2 win at Honda Center. Los Angeles advanced to its third straight conference final and second straight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Game 1 is Sunday at United Center (3 p.m. ET; NBC, TSN, RDS). The highly anticipated state title game was decided in an opening 10-minute, three-goal blitz by the Kings that began with another clutch goal by Williams, who tied Wayne Gretzky for second all-time with his sixth career Game 7 goal. After Los Angeles chased 20-year-old rookie goalie John Gibson on Anze Kopitar's first goal of the series, giving L.A. a 4-0 lead, Kings fans chanted "This is our house!" It was appropriate after the Kings won three of four games at Honda Center and improved to 6-0 in elimination games in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Anaheim was motivated all season to make up for its disappointing Game 7 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the conference quarterfinals last spring, also at home. Instead, the Sucks will face another summer of doubt and guilt that was unfitting of the final NHL game for 43-year-old Teemu Selanne. The crowd rose to recognize Selanne when he came out for his final shift with 1:52 left, and the biggest ovation of the night came as he skated over to the bench area after the handshake line as the entire Kings team tapped their sticks in a classy gesture. It was a bittersweet moment for Anaheim, which has a bright future with its prospects but its veteran core will take a hit without Selanne and possibly 39-year-old Saku Koivu, who said he will "get away from the game for a couple of weeks and really take a good careful look" at his future. In the immediate aftermath it was up to captain Ryan Getzlaf to be the scarred face of the Ducks. Williams' goal was an ominous sign for Anaheim because the team that scored first had won each of the previous six games. Any notion that trend would change was quickly nullified by goals from Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.

Williams nudged his second attempt across the goal line from the crease on the power play at 4:30 of the first period. Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler tried to rim the puck around but it didn't get out, and Richards put it on net for Williams, who has six goals and six assists in six Game 7s wins (6-0). Carter made it 2-0 when he finished a breakaway with one of his signature backhands at 8:48 after he muscled past Hampus Lindholm in the neutral zone. Richards sent Anaheim tumbling further with his second goal of the playoffs at 15:12 for a 3-0 lead. Richards dropped a pass to Dwight King then went to the net to pop in the rebound that Gibson couldn't control. That made it three goals allowed on nine shots against Gibson, who didn't have his best game but wasn't helped by his skaters either. Trailing 2-0, the Sucks might have changed the complexion of the game on a penalty shot awarded to Perry at 14:08, but Quick poke-checked away his attempt. Perry and Quick chirped all night, and Quick probably wasn't wishing Perry a happy 29th birthday. The 2011 Hart Trophy winner scored early in the third period to make it 5-2, but he was on the ice for three of the Kings' goals, as was Getzlaf, who lost 17 of 25 faceoffs and 31 of 45 in Games 6-7. On the other side were Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, who scored his NHL-leading ninth goal of the playoffs, on the power play at 13:08 of the second period. Gaborik and Kopitar combined for seven goals and 18 points in the series. Gaborik, Richards and Williams are 6-0 in Game 7s. Kopitar is 3-0. The Kings outshot the Sucks 16-6 in the first period, and Anaheim's only highlights were big hits by Getzlaf, Bryan Allen and Devante Smith-Pelly. Getzlaf leveled Kyle Clifford at the boards, but Clifford got the puck out to trigger Richards' goal just before the hit.

Justin Williams: "I've said multiple times about this group, [what] we have is the inner arrogance and the quiet confidence, whatever you want to call it, that's in this dressing room. I look around and I trust that everyone's going to do their job and get it done. Nobody has to be great. Just everybody has to be good. We were all good tonight."

Anze Kopitar: "It seems like we play our best hockey when our backs are against the wall. For some reason we play with a sense of urgency and desperation mixed together. I don't think anybody expected it to be a high-scoring game. But we got on a roll and we took off after Justin's goal. We felt pretty good, we know that this would have to be our best game of the series, and I think it was. I don't know how he does it. I don't know if he eats anything different before the game. He's a leader on the team. [General manager] Dean [Lombardi] got him for a reason."
Teemu Selanne: "It was very disappointing. I knew it was either going to be an unbelievable party or disappointment. This time it wasn't the party. It's very disappointing. It's a funny game. We had our chances. We just couldn't take advantage of them. That's the way it goes."
Ryan Getzlaf: "This whole thing, it's a bitter pill. To come out and let them get that lead … I lay a lot of that on our shoulders. Things that we need to do differently. Nerves got us, I think, a little bit. Pucks were bouncing around a little bit and they were capitalizing. When they come out with a 3-0 lead, you're probably not going to beat a team like the Kings."
Bruce Boudreau: (who fell to 1-5 in Game 7s)"That first period was like men against boys, quite frankly. They were bigger, stronger faster, seemed more determined, while we were on our heels. Everything we said we that wanted not to do, we did. We didn't do the things we wanted to do. But I want to give the L.A. Kings a little bit of credit here. They played like Stanley Cup champions. They didn't play like that in the first period in any of the other six games. I think we were individually and collectively blown away by what they were doing. They were passing us individually … like we were standing still and they were driving by us."
Darryl Sutter: "Those guys lead the charge. There's no question. It's those players like that have played in a lot of Game 7s or made the difference in Game 7s. They lead the charge and set the tone. [Williams is] a perfect example."