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Game 1 Preview : Let’s Begin Again, Begin The Begin

Series Schedule

Date Score W. Goal
Jun 12 ’13
Jun 10 ’13
Jun 08 ’13
Jun 06 ’13
Jun 04 ’13
Jun 02 ’13
Jun 01 ’13

The Western Conference Final is set to begin today, as the Blackhawks look to keep their momentum going from their emotional Game 7 win on Wednesday. The reigning Stanley Cup champs are going to give the Hawks all they can handle today. I fully expect the Kings to come out of gates looking to hit anything in red. If the Hawks can withstand the initial onslaught and force the Kings to play their game, they should be just fine. The Blackhawks will need to take full advantage of their home ice this weekend.

The Hawks took two out of the three regular season meetings against Los Angeles this year. They actually had quite a bit of success against Jonathan Quick, scoring 12 goals against him in the 3 games. But the playoff version of Quick is a much different beast than the one we saw earlier in the year. There has been a lot of love for the Kings in the media but I feel if the Sharks took them to seven games, then the Hawks can beat them. It starts today, but the Hawks will need to be the physical and disciplined team we saw the last three games against the Wings.

Probable Blackhawks Lineup:

Forwards

Bryan BickellJonathan ToewsMarian Hossa
Patrick SharpMichal HandzusPatrick Kane
Brandon SaadAndrew ShawViktor Stalberg
Marcus KrugerDave BollandMichael Frolik

Defensive Pairings

Duncan KeithBrent Seabrook
Michal RozsivalNick Leddy
Johnny OduyaNiklas Hjalmarsson

Goaltender

Corey Crawford 8-4, 1.70 GAA, .938 save %, 1 SO

Leading Scorers

Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW
P. Sharp 12 7 4 11 4 2 1 2
M. Hossa 12 5 6 11 4 2 3 0
P. Kane 12 2 7 9 2 4 0 0
D. Keith 12 1 8 9 4 8 0 0
B. Bickell 12 5 1 6 1 8 0 1

Probable Kings Lineup:

Forwards

Kyle CliffordAnze KopitarJustin Williams
Dustin PennerMike RichardsJeff Carter
Dwight KingTrevor LewisDustin Brown
Brad RichardsonColin FraserTyler Toffoli

Defensive Pairings

Robyn RegehrDrew Doughty
Rob ScuderiSlava Voynov
Jake MuzzinMatt Greene

Goaltender

Jonathan Quick 8-5, 1.50 GAA, .948 save , 3 SO

Leading Scorers

Player GP G A P +/- PIM PP GW
M. Richards 13 2 8 10 5 8 1 0
J. Carter 13 5 3 8 3 12 1 0
S. Voynov 13 4 3 7 7 0 0 3
A. Kopitar 13 2 5 7 1 8 0 1
J. Williams 13 4 2 6 2 6 1 2

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