The Los Angeles Kings saw their share of questionable officiating during the second round. Well, the NHL and its referees dodged a giant bullet last night, as Chicago triumphed in overtime of Game 7 in spite of a dubious call near the end of regulation. The Blackhawks thought they had the winner when Niklas Hjalmarsson beat Jimmy Howard with 1:49 left, but good old former King Kyle Quincey roughed up Brandon Saad way behind the play seconds earlier. Somehow Saad’s reaction (getting tackled) was deemed worthy of a coincidental minor, and the goal was waved off. Happily (for the NHL, at least), Brent Seabrook won the game 3:35 into overtime to send Detroit packing. Read the recap from Second City Hockey here.
By the way, yes, Second City Hockey is SB Nation’s Chicago Blackhawks blog. Wish them luck!
Anyway, this sets us up for quite a matchup: the President’s Trophy winners against the defending champs. Here’s the schedule. along with TV info and start times.
| Game | Date | Matchup | Time (PT) | National TV |
| 1 | Sat, Jun 1 | Kings at Blackhawks | 2:00 PM | NBCSN, TSN, RDS |
| 2 | Sun, Jun 2 | Kings at Blackhawks | 5:00 PM | NBCSN, TSN, RDS |
| 3 | Tue, Jun 4 | Blackhawks at Kings | 6:00 PM | NBCSN, TSN, RDS |
| 4 | Thu, Jun 6 | Blackhawks at Kings | 6:00 PM | NBCSN, CBC, RDS |
| 5* | Sat, Jun 8 | Kings at Blackhawks | 5:00 PM | NBC, CBC, RDS |
| 6* | Mon, Jun 10 | Blackhawks at Kings | 6:00 PM | NBCSN, CBC, RDS |
| 7* | Wed, Jun 12 | Kings at Blackhawks | TBD | NBCSN, CBC, RDS |
(* = if necessary; info from main SB Nation NHL site)
Some notes and thoughts:
- You can blame The Rolling Stones for that Saturday/Sunday start. The United Center will be hosting the Stones on Friday night and Monday night, so the NHL schedule makers didn’t have much choice in that matter.
- The Kings are 4-2-1 in the second game of back-to-back contests in 2013.
- Look, an NBC game! In Saturday primetime!
- The Bruins and Penguins also start on Saturday, but their Game 2 is on Monday. The West and East will alternate each night from there.
- A quick reminder of how the Kings’ three games against Chicago went this season:
- The season opener was ugly, as Chicago spoiled the banner party in a 5-2 victory. Kings were sans Anze Kopitar, but there were many other reasons for the defeat.
- Hockey Day in America was better, but a rough start eventually doomed the Kings in a 3-2 loss.
- Los Angeles finally took down the Hawks in the third matchup of the season, as they overcame Jonathan Quick’s struggles in net to win 5-4. The offense (starring Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown) clicked in the third on the road; that’d be good this time around.
- Old friends! Former King Michal Handzus has been centering Bryan Bickell and Marian Hossa on the Blackhawks’ second line. He’s getting good minutes, too, including on the power play, where he once excelled for LA. Chicago’s power play has struggled this season, though, and if you’d like, feel free to attribute that to old friend #2: assistant coach Jamie Kompon.
- In the other old friend direction: Darryl Sutter is no stranger to the Blackhawks, having played his entire career in Chicago and coached there for three seasons. Colin Fraser won a Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010.
- The Kings and Blackhawks have only faced off once in the playoffs; in 1974, Chicago won a first-round matchup in five games.
- LA is trying to knock off the President’s Trophy winners for the second straight season, return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight season, and win without home ice for the second straight season.
More extended previews to come. Go Kings Go.