The Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings were tied at 1-1 heading into the third period last night at the United Center. The Hawks then came out strong for the next ten minutes, tacking on three more goals to solidify the win and coast from there.  Chicago handled LA offensively with 10 shots on goal to their two in the final period.

John Madden started off the festivities, knocking in the initial goal just over a minute into the second period.  Anze Kopitar answered for the Kings soon after to tie it up, which was then followed up by Troy Brouwer, Jonathan Toews, and Andrew Ebbett’s game changing scores in the third.

The biggest factor in last night’s contest was how teams responded to power play opportunities.  The Kings were given the one-man advantage twice but failed to score each time.  The Blackhawks from their three chances earned two goals. “I’ve always said the power play can win you a game and penalty killing can lose you a game. And tonight, it lost us a game,” said Kings coach Terry Murray. “The Blackhawks brought their work boots. They got a couple-goal lead and played prevent defense.”

Chicago is now set to host the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday at 8:30 PM. Blackhawks tickets are available now!

Marian Gaborik scored for insurance 4:22 into the third period as the New York Rangers went on to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 last night at the MSG. Gaborik’s sixth goal of the season left the game out of reach for LA, giving the Rangers their sixth consecutive victory. 

“You just find a way to win when you’re not on - and we were not on,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “We were behind in every facet of the game but we still found a way to win. That’s a good sign.” Vaclav Prospal came up big for New York scoring two power play goals in the first period. Henrik Lundqvist contained the Kings all night with 34 saves. New York is scheduled to play the Toronto Maple Leafs this Saturday at 7:00 PM.

New York Rangers tickets are now available!

Recap – When it comes to the NHL there are some good teams, and some bad teams. The LA Kings are a bad team, a really, really bad team. Through 50 games, LA has only accrued 19 wins and 40 total points. Those are the lowest totals in the entire NHL. Defense is not the team’s strongpoint, not that they have a strongpoint, but they have allowed 168 goals which is the 2nd highest in the league. The Gretzky days are only a distant memory now and attendance is at an all time low. This franchise is in serious trouble and the ownership needs to decide if they really want to stay in LA for much longer.

2nd Half – Even a miracle would not give this team a playoff birth. The Kinds used 4 goaltenders in the first half of the season and none were effective. At 23 years old, left-wingman Dustin Brown has a bright future ahead of him and right now he’s merely playing for his next contract. With 24 goals and 15 assists, someone will save him from his misery in LA.

Team Name: Los Angeles Kings (19-29-2)

Pacific Division Standing: 5th place

Conference Standing: 15th place

Final Predictions – 5th in Pacific Division, 15th in Western Conference