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Carter, Kings beat Blackhawks with 3rd-period surge

Chicago,  IL  (SportsNetwork.com) -  Jeff Carter scored  three of Los Angeles' 
five  third-period  goals and  the Kings evened  the Western Conference finals 
with a 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 on Wednesday. 

Jonathan  Quick  made 23 saves for  the Kings, who registered their first road 
playoff victory in Chicago in eight tries. 

Corey  Crawford  stopped 18-of-19 Los  Angeles shots through 40 minutes before 
surrendering four goals on 11 shots in the third. 

The Blackhawks suffered their first home loss in this postseason. 

Game 3 is Saturday in Los Angeles. 

"I  really liked  how we  played for  38 minutes.  We did  everything we  were 
looking  to do,"  said Blackhawks  head coach  Joel Quenneville.  "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." 

Chicago  owned a 2-0  lead late in the second period, but the Kings got on the 
board via a lucky carom prior to the intermission. 

The   puck  slithered  through  Crawford's  pads  with  1:46  remaining  after 
deflecting  off the right skate of Justin Williams. Mike Richards had tried to 
set up Williams, who was battling in the crease, with a pass. 

"To  be  honest with you, I  thought we were a  little flat heading up to that 
goal,"  Carter said. "We got a bounce. The guys worked hard to get to the net. 
It  gave us  a little bit of life.  Gave us a little bit of extra energy going 
into the third." 

Los Angeles grabbed the lead with two power-play goals early in the third. 

Carter  was screening Crawford and tipped Drew Doughty's point shot, tying the 
game at 1:37. 

Jake  Muzzin,  who had a key  block during a  5-on-3 Chicago power play in the 
first  period  that Los Angeles  killed, beat Crawford  high on the short side 
with a slap shot from the left circle at 4:04 to give the Kings a 3-2 lead. 

The Blackhawks couldn't quell Los Angeles' momentum. 

Tanner  Pearson retrieved  a puck from behind  the net and dished out front to 
Tyler Toffoli, who scored from the slot at 8:59. The Chicago players were slow 
to  react after a  shot from Carter went high in the air behind Crawford. They 
likely  expected  the puck  to make  contact with  the protective netting, but 
it did not. 

Carter  scored on a 2-on-1 break with 5:16 remaining and added an empty-netter 
to complete the hat trick with 3:31 left. 

The  Kings  survived 38  seconds of  a Chicago two-man  advantage early in the 
first  period,  and Toffoli helped prevent  a puck from crossing the goal line 
after  Los Angeles  defenseman Willie  Mitchell cross-checked  Chicago forward 
Peter Regin into the net. 

Nick Leddy opened the scoring on the subsequent power play after the Kings had 
a chance shorthanded. 

Carter  couldn't knock down  a pass from Richards when the puck came to him at 
the right post on a 3-on-2 rush. Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith picked up the 
puck  and sent  a  long,  diagonal pass  to  Leddy. He  had  a  step on  Kings 
defenseman  Matt  Greene and backhanded  the puck from  the inside edge of the 
right circle past Quick with 5:44 left in the opening frame. 

Ben  Smith  made it  2-0 at  1:40 of the  second period.  Johnny Oduya fired a 
stretch  pass  from in front  of Crawford that  Brandon Bollig tipped onto the 
stick  of  Smith at the  Los Angeles  blue line. Smith  then beat Quick on the 
stick side with a shot from the slot. 

Quick  denied Brent Seabrook on a 2-on-1 with about seven minutes left to keep 
the deficit at two goals. 

"Seabrook  is a right  shot, so it was a different angle than if it was a one- 
timer  opportunity," Quick  said. "Just  trying to  get it  over to  the post. 
Fortunate to get a piece of it." 

                                   Game Notes 

Carter's  four points  in the third period  tied an NHL playoff record, and he 
joined  Tommy  Williams as  the only Kings  players to score  three goals in a 
period   in  the  postseason.  Williams  accomplished  the  feat  against  the 
Blackhawks  on  April 14,  1974 ... Carter's  hat trick was  the 11th in Kings 
postseason  history  and second by him  ... The Kings matched a playoff record 
for  most goals in a period ... The Blackhawks had been 8-0 when scoring first 
this postseason. 

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