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<heading>ADV!PREVIEW-CHI-LOS</heading>
<game_id>19153</game_id>
<schedule_id>19153</schedule_id>
<category>Previews</category>
<sport>NHL</sport>
<title>
Chicago Blackhawks (2-3) at Los Angeles Kings (3-2), 9 p.m. (ET)
</title>
<Game_Date>05/30/2014</Game_Date>
<Game_Time>09:00 PM</Game_Time>
<vteam id="124">Chicago</vteam>
<hteam id="128">Los Angeles</hteam>
<body>
<P>
 (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Blackhawks weren't ready to give up on their
 dreams of winning consecutive Stanley Cup titles the last time out. The
 defending champions hope to stay alive for a second straight time on Friday
 when they visit the Los Angeles Kings for Game 6 of the Western Conference
 finals.
 
</P>
<P>
 The Blackhawks are attempting to return to the Cup Finals after falling behind
 three games to one in this postseason battle against Los Angeles. The Kings,
 who lost in five games to Chicago in last spring's conference finals, couldn't
 close out the Hawks in their first attempt on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4
 double-overtime decision in the Windy City.
 
</P>
<P>
 Chicago, which is trying to become the first team to win consecutive titles
 since Detroit in 1997 and '98, improved to 8-1 as the host in these playoffs
 with the Game 5 triumph, but it will have to win its first road game of the
 series to keep on playing. The Kings won Game 3 at the Staples Center by a 4-3
 score and pushed their series lead to 3-1 with a 5-2 decision Monday night in
 the City of Angels.
 
</P>
<P>
 All told, Los Angeles is 5-3 as the host this postseason and is 19-7 in home
 playoff games since the start of the 2012 playoffs, when the Kings won their
 only Stanley Cup title.
 
</P>
<P>
 If the Blackhawks win Friday the clubs will meet Sunday evening in Chicago for
 a decisive Game 7.
 
</P>
<P>
 Michal Handzus, a former L.A. King, provided the OT heroics for Chicago on
 Wednesday, scoring at 2:04 of the second overtime to send the series back to
 the Staples Center. Brandon Saad held the puck along the right wing below the
 circles and dished ahead to Handzus, who controlled the disc for a second
 before lifting a backhander under the crossbar to end the contest.
 
</P>
<P>
 "Two guys went on him and I got open,"Handzus said of his linemate Saad. "I
 was surprised I got open like that but he waited and waited and gave me a
 great pass."
 
</P>
<P>
 For Handzus, it was his first career postseason overtime score, and just his
 second playoff game-winner after recording the only goal in a 1-0 Flyers
 victory against Ottawa in the 2003 second round.
 
</P>
<P>
 Saad ended up with a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who wasted a
 pair of early two-goal leads and fell behind by a goal before rallying to
 extend the series.
 
</P>
<P>
 "We don't want the season to end now. We're having too much fun playing," Saad
 admitted.
 
</P>
<P>
 Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya and Ben Smith also scored, while Patrick Kane
 notched a career playoff-high four helpers for Chicago. Kane became the first
 Blackhawk to assist on four goals in one playoff game since Steve Larmer did
 so on April 30, 1990 in a Norris Division final-clinching 8-2 rout of the St.
 Louis Blues .
 
</P>
<P>
 Kane hasn't scored a goal since getting the OT winner and series clincher in
 Game 6 of Chicago's second-round series against Minnesota, but the reigning
 Conn Smythe winner has posted five assists over the last two games.
 
</P>
<P>
 Corey Crawford looked shaky at times, but emerged with the win thanks to 40
 saves.
 
</P>
<P>
 On Thursday's off day, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews talked about keeping
 the pressure on Los Angeles from the start of tonight's battle.
 
</P>
<P>
 "We're going to work on getting our first win on the road against this team,"
 said Toews. "We want to stay with the mentality, that we're putting all the
 pressure on them. It's going to be tough for them to close it out and win that
 fourth game against us. We showed how resilient of a group we are last night.
 We're going to do it again."
 
</P>
<P>
 Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll and Tanner Pearson lit the lamp for
 L.A. Pearson's tally extended his point streak to six games, matching
 the Kings' postseason record for a rookie along with Warren Rychel (1993) and
 Daryl Evans (1982).
 
</P>
<P>
 L.A. has the comfort of home ice on Friday to try and reach the
 Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in the last three seasons, but the club
 knows the fourth win of a series can be extremely hard to come by.
 
</P>
<P>
 "If anyone thinks that it's easy ... it's not easy," Kings forward Justin
 Williams said of closing out an opponent in the third round. "Attaining your
 ultimate goal is never easy and we're going to do our best to get it done."
 
</P>
<P>
 Jonathan Quick took the loss despite stopping 40 pucks.
 
</P>
<P>
 Kane had a hand in all three Blackhawk scores in the opening 20 minutes on
 Wednesday before notching the secondary assist on Handzus' winner. However,
 after going up by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening period, the Blackhawks
 found themselves down 4-3 heading into the final stanza of regulation, but
 Smith scored early in the third to even things.
 
</P>
<P>
 Saad fired a low shot from the left wing that was kicked aside by Quick, but
 Smith beat his checker and potted the rebound for a 4-4 game just 77 seconds
 into the third period. The Blackhawks had a prime chance to win in regulation
 when Stoll committed a tripping infraction with 3:11 on the clock. Quick made
 two acrobatic stops, one from Kane and the rebound on Bryan Bickell early in
 the advantage and added two more before its completion.
 
</P>
<P>
 Acting on adrenaline and instinct, the first overtime featured a dozen quality
 chances split between the clubs. Los Angeles claimed a 10-8 shot edge in a
 briskly-paced fourth period.
 
</P>
<P>
 "Overtime, I've seen a lot of games, been involved in a lot of those," said
 Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "That might have been the greatest
 overtime I've seen."
 
</P>
<P>
 The Blackhawks have come back from down 3-1 to win a series only once in their
 history, but it was last spring against Detroit, which won three of the first
 four games against Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals before
 losing the final three tilts. The Blackhawks also needed to win Game 7 in
 overtime to down the Red Wings.
 
</P>
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
</body>
<time_stamp> May 30, 2014, at 10:33 AM ET </time_stamp>
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