A second game against the Los Angeles Kings in the span of four days was about as ugly as the first, with Chicago losing 6-2 in California on Tuesday night.
The Kings grabbed the lead in the middle of the first period, with Alex Laferriere hopping on a rebound to make it a 1-0 LA advantage:
The Blackhawks tried-and-true method of bouncing pucks into the net off of teammates while on the power play returned in the first period to tie the game. This time, it was Philipp Kurashev clanking a puck in off of Nick Foligno to tie the game at one during a 5-on-3:
Petr Mrazek did his part to hold the fort early on in the second period:
But LA eventually started pulling away. First, Vladislav Gavrikov put the Kings ahead with this seeing-eye shot from the point that found its way into the Chicago net:
A few minutes later, Kevin Korchinski misplayed the puck in the Chicago end and that turnover resulted in a golden scoring opportunity for the Kings that was converted by Anze Kopitar:
Kopitar struck again in the final minute of the period with this power-play goal:
The Kings added some insurance in the third period with this goal by old friend Phillip Danault:
Colin Blackwell left the game in the third period with an apparent left shoulder issue, adding a little injury to the insult of this lopsided loss.
Korchinski added a late goal with a shot that hit an LA glove on the way to the net:
Trevor Lewis added a sixth for LA but it’s not posted here because there are already enough Kings goals posted here.
Notes
- It’s insane that it’s 2024, every part of the Hawks’ 2010s dynasty is out of Chicago if not out of the league, and Anze Kopitar is STILL playing at this level with the same team. Whatever fountain of youth he discovered is serving him well.
- The game went lopsided in a hurry but the first period actually was … not all that bad? Hawks had a mild advantage in shot attempts (15-13) and scoring chances (7-6) at 5-on-5, although LA did have a 71 percent expected goal share because it seemed better at getting to the dirty areas (3-0 in high danger chances). LA also went about half the period before getting a shot on goal in any situation, so it wasn’t a wholly abysmal outing.
- But the margin of error is so small for this team, and the second period epitomized that. A Korchinski turnover led directly to an LA goal. A Bedard penalty 200 feet from his net and poor PK coverage (more on that in a bit) led to another LA goal, and the game was suddenly over by the second intermission. When this Blackhawks team makes mistakes, it often pays dearly for them and doesn’t have much of a rebound to offer. Kinda used to that by now, aren’t we?
- Korchinski is far from the first blue-liner to mishandle a puck while expecting an LA forechecker to plant him into the third row even though said forechecker was actually a safe distance away. But that’s a lesson Korchinski can only learn by playing in the NHL, because such players just don’t exist in the WHL. And learning that lesson now means he’s — hopefully — closer to ensuring it doesn’t happen in the future.
- Yeah, Korchinski scored a goal, but no one will talk about that when he was on the ice for five goals against. Jaycob Megna can be mentioned here as Korch’s D partner but he’s not around for the long haul, so he’s not as important to discuss. The aforementioned turnover by Korch was a tough moment, as were several instances when he lost inside positioning on an opponent — a common theme on most of LA’s goals in this game. Korchinski was much better against the Sharks, though, so hopefully this can just be chalked up as the inconsistency of youth.
- Kopitar was the beneficiary, but the fourth LA goal of the game was largely because of Quinton Byfield’s subtle push of Wyatt Kaiser to open up the most prime real estate in hockey along the top of the crease. Kopitar was waiting on the other side of puck carrier Adrian Kempe, who had his pick between Byfield and Kopitar, who were both waiting with sticks on the ice and the passing lane wide open. That’s a seam which cannot be left that open when the puck is down near the goal line extended on the power play, but it’s also a heady play by Byfield to move Kaiser enough to open up that lane.
- Easy to blame that fifth goal on the Korchinski/Megna duo but it sure seems like either Bedard or Kurashev should’ve dropped back to cover Trevor Moore, who received the puck about 10 feet from the net and roughly 800 miles of open space between him and the nearest defender. Forwards need to play defense, too.
- Let’s end on a positive. Even in a game he likely wants to forget, Bedard still graces us with a moment to savor. Watch these smooth passes in the neutral zone to Kurashev to gain zone entry:
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Anze Kopitar (LAK) — 2 goals, 1 assist, possible immortality
- Adrian Kempe (LAK) — 3 assists
- Vladislav Gavrikov (LAK) — 1 goal, 1 assist
What’s Next?
The Blackhawks stay out west, heading to Anaheim to face the Ducks on Thursday night at 9 p.m.