Gameday Soundtrack: LA Should Give Chicago the D

 
I plan to head into this game fully inebriated. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’m from Chicago. The Kings-Blackhawks series was rough for me, because my family members who still live in Chicago think I’m a traitor for being more invested in the Kings. They plague me with reminders of Chicago’s most recent Cup win constantly. One of my supposed best friends sent me a Patrick Kane calendar. The struggle is so real.

Though they haven’t been blowing every team away quite like they did last season, the Chicago Blackhawks are once again at the top of the NHL. The Kings’ toughest sixty minutes comes right at the end of their four-game road trip.

Here are songs by recently popular Chicago artists to take us into it:

Obviously, the storyline we’re all going to deal with tonight is that the Kings return to the place where they were knocked out of the playoffs last season. I don’t think many Kings fans expected them to come out on the winning side of the Western Conference Final. LA’s goal-scoring was slumping and many of the players were half-dead and rotting after the Blues and Sharks series.

The Kings by the end of the WCF, basically.

They didn’t have enough left in them to continue to play first-rate defense, but the series happened. They lost. It’s time for a flashback.

Injury means both teams are without their starting goaltenders right now, but the forward lineup contains all the familiar faces. Chicago’s top line center, Jonathan Toews, has one more point than LA’s top line center, Anze Kopitar, who leads the Kings with 29. Drew Doughty versus Duncan Keith is the big defensemen matchup. The Blackhawks’ biggest scorer, Kane, leads his team with 44 points and is only two points behind league-leader Sidney Crosby. Kane’s also the Blackhawks leader in goals with 19. LA’s sniper, Jeff Carter, lost momentum after going down with an injury. He has 9 goals in 23 games, but he’s scored in the Kings’ last two games played and was among the strongest players on the ice throughout yesterday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

But speaking of Patrick Kane, every time someone mentions his hat trick during the conference final, I have a moment where I think, “What are you talking about?” because I forget about it. That probably sounds like a lie, but for me the best moment of that game — of that series — was the totally unbelievable tying goal from the Kings late in the third period of Game 5.

HEY, LET’S LOOK AT IT AGAIN:

Mike Richards probably still had concussion symptoms during this game. I’m not totally convinced that he knew where he was for the entirety of this night, but I was glad he was lucid enough to tip the puck in during that moment. That whole play was just beautiful.

The Blackhawks are a solid shot-blocking team, so the Kings are challenged with figuring out clever ways to reach the goaltender even if gain the attacking zone. LA’s still ranked number one in face-offs. Winning those and going right to the net off the draw like the Game 5 play could give them some quality opportunities. That, or they can just hope Doughty’s still hot from last game and pulls another drive to the net from his bag of tricks. I mean, it worked in the one game the Kings won against Chicago during the 2012-13 regular season, too.

Though the Blackhawks have an edge on the Kings, it’s not quite as drastic as it might’ve seemed even a few weeks ago. In their last five games, the Blackhawks have outscored the competition 24-15, not counting shootout goals. The Kings have outscored opponents 19-5. Chicago’s 9.7 shooting percentage is still the best in the league, but the Kings have seen their own percentage start to return to normal. They’re up to 7.5 percent after spending some time ranked last in the league in November. With both LA and Chicago’s Corsi and Fenwick numbers bouncing around the top three all season, the battle for ice could be really tight. Both teams are also on the second half of back-to-backs, so everything may just come down to which side finds the extra gas to go a little harder tonight.

The best offensive team in the league (Chicago: 3.66 goals per game) takes on the best defensive team in the league (Kings: 1.91 goals against per game). Clench everything.