The Chicago Blackhawks were running all over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final, taking a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Hawks doubled their first-period lead by adding two more goals and forcing Kings coach Darryl Sutter to pull Jonathan Quick halfway through the period. It was the first time in 34 straight playoff games that the Kings or Quick had given up more than three goals.
Bryan Bickell scored on a power play; well, he was in front of the net on the power play anyway, though Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr was the player who ultimately knocked it in with this sure shot:
Just 2:09 later, Michal Handzus made it 4-0 with this shot inside the near post on a two-on-one:
That was enough to bring Jonathan Bernier into the game.
The Kings finally got on the board with 1:03 left in the period when Jeff Carter woke up Hawks goalie Corey Crawford:
Losing badly and with a comeback looking unlikely, the Kings continued to hit high and low. Dustin Brown had a high hit on Handzus at center ice. Rob Scuderi pulled off one of his low-bridge hip checks to flip Patrick Sharp along the boards:
The Kings have fallen behind two games to none before in these playoffs and lived to play another series, so this isn't the end of the world for them. But it's not looking good.
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