Stanley Cup Playoffs 2014: Blackhawks force Game 5 against Kings in instant classic

The defending champions have been impossible to beat in the final three games of a series since last year, and that trend continues after the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 5-4, in double-overtime.

I expected a win from the home team coming into the game, but I didn't expect a game quite like that. Chicago started things off by taking advantage of power plays and going up 2-0 early in the contest. Los Angeles answered by scoring two goals themselves and the Blackhawks added one more keep a 3-2 lead after just one period.

The goals slowed down as the game went on. The Kings eventually took a 4-3 lead in the second period, but they didn't enjoy it long after the third period began. Ben Smith had his third goal of the postseason to tie it up at 4-4 just a 1:17 into the final period regulation.

After non-stop action in the first overtime, Chicago finally scored just over two minute into the second overtime to stay alive in Round 3. It was by former Kings player, Michal Handzus.

The game honestly had it all. Anybody that's not a hockey fan would be instantly transformed with all the drama, hard hits, and just great hockey play all around. It had everything. Your high-scoring affair in the first period and then both goalies seemingly getting hotter as the game went on. There was rarely an overtime that thrilling with non-stop action on both ends. At one point, there were eight minutes of hockey without a whistle.

Sure, the NBA is more popular and the general public still scoffs at the sport, but do what I did and put both games side-by-side together. Trust me, you can have your foul frenzy of a game that takes out the best player in the game for over half the game. You can take your final minute of the game lasting a half-hour and endless views of instant replay.

While suckers were watching to see who touched the ball last, NHL fans were treated to back-and-forth game action. NHL fans got over 82 minutes of game action, NBA fans got 48 and the runtime of both games weren't that much different.

WSD Sports Page: Kings dominate against Blackhawks in 3rd period, tie series

Photo via Flickr

In the first 38 minutes of the game, Chicago was up 2-0 and cruising to take a 2-0 lead in the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Then, things escalated quickly after Los Angeles broke through with a goal.

Five more goals were scored by the Kings after Justin Williams scored on a tip-in with under two minutes left in the second period, winning by the final 6-2 tally and evening up the series. The Kings took advantage of two power play opportunities early in the final period and Jeff Carter had a hat trick in that final stretch.

It was incredibly uncharacteristic for Chicago to get ran out on their own ice like that. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews admitted that it just got away from them once the Kings were able to garner all the momentum (via NHL.com):

"You're bound to give up something," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "If they score a goal to pull within one it doesn't mean they have to score six unanswered. I think we always want to close out periods. We want to try to keep that momentum going into the next one but sometimes it happens. So we just needed to find a way to bounce back early in that third and we didn't do it."

The second power play opportunity given to LA was a mental error by Chicago's Brandon Saad, but that likely put the nail in the coffin after the Kings were able to grab the 3-2 lead just three minutes into the final period.

Don't forget about Jonathan Quick, who had a stellar first period just to keep the game within reach. He saved 19 shots in the first two periods before Chicago was held to just six in the final frame.

It took five periods, but the Kings finally broke through to make it a series against the Blackhawks.


Other Headlines

MLB: Giants beat Rockies 5-1, lose pitchers Cain and Casilla

Matt Cain continues to have the worst luck this season. After three innings, San Francisco's starter pulled his right hamstring and had to exit the game. He gave up zero hits and walks along with recording three strikeouts on 36 pitches, en roue to what looked like a great start. Luckily, the bullpen was able to break through and save the day, with Yusmeiro Petit picking up the win after three innings of work himself.

Another injury was sustained by reliever Santiago Casilla, who was trucking to first base and landed awkwardly on his leg, tumbling down and was in agony for quite a few minutes. With a quick turnaround today thanks to a day game, the Giants have to work quickly to come up with a plan to replenish the pitching roster as they deal with injuries.

In better news, the Giants got the much-needed win with solo long-ball shots from Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, and Brandon Crawford.

NBA: Spurs flex muscles again, throttle Thunder to take 2-0 lead

I don't want to say a series is over after two games, but Oklahoma City is on life support. The loss of Serge Ibaka was a huge loss for the Thunder, and Scott Brooks needs to figure out a game plan to both slow down San Antonio and get more of his players involved. Russell Westbrook took over the game and missed a billion shots during the Spurs' huge run that spanned the second and third quarters.

There's plenty of time to work some magic, but clearly, Gregg Popovich is showing how superior he is as a head coach and how much better of a team that he has in the Western Conference -- which is an unbelievable statement.

NFL: Smith pleads no contest to three felony weapons, two misdemeanor DUI charges

Sentencing will happen shortly after training camp opens up this summer for the team. Obviously, being an NFL player and all, he won't be facing much, if any, jail time. But he should easily see a suspension from the NFL, or at the very least a suspension from the team. His actions are indefensible, and so was the abomination at LAX last month. Smith shouldn't be seeing action until October, but we'll see how severe his punishments are.


Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
Canadiens at Rangers (NYR 2-0) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
No games

MLB
-Giants at Rockies - 2:10 MLBTV
Dodgers at Mets - 6:10 MLBTV
D'backs at Cardinals - 6:15 FSMW
Cubs at Padres - 9:10 CSCH

CBB - BIG 12 TOURNEY
Kansas vs Baylor - 9:00a FSSW+
Texas Tech vs Oklahoma - 12:30 FSSW+
TCU vs W Virginia - 4:00 FSSW+
-Oklahoma St vs Texas - 7:30 FSSW+

Playoff recap: Chicago, Anaheim move on in Stanley Cup

Chicago and Anaheim move on in the NHL, while more NBA Western Conference playoffs games went overtime because that's all they do. That and more in today's playoff recaps.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

• Rangers 4, Flyers 2 (NYR 3-2)
• Blackhawks 5, Blues 1 (CHI wins series 4-2)
• Ducks 5, Stars 4 (F/OT) (ANA wins series 4-2)

In shocking fashion, Anaheim moved on in the West by scoring two goals in the final 2:10 of the game to force overtime. Nick Bonino, who scored the first goal in the quick comeback, made the game winner nearly three minutes into overtime. Devante Smith-Pelly had the other goal in the 3rd period, scoring his first two goals of the postseason in this game.

Chicago put the game out of reach early in the 3rd period after Jonathan Toews got a power play goal and Patrick Sharp scored a little over a minute later, making it 3-1. 

Philadelphia took six more shots, held New York to 22 shots, had 15 more faceoff wins, and lost.

NBA Playoffs

• Wizards 98, Bulls 89 (WSH 3-1)
• Warriors 118, Clippers 97 (Tied 2-2)
• Raptors 87, Nets 79 (Tied 2-2)
• Blazers 123, Rockets 120 (F/OT) (POR 3-1)

Trevor Ariza put up 30 points for Washington, and the team turned it over just six times on the day, forcing Chicago to win at home in Game 5.

Both Toronto and Brooklyn were a disaster from long range, the main reason for a lower score. But the Nets were also dismal from the free throw line, going 19-of-29 while the Raptors missed just gimmies. DeMar DeRozan had 20 of his 24 points in the first half, and Toronto won their first playoff road game since 2001.

Portland and Houston played another thrilling overtime game with zero defense. For the first time in this series, a game was won by the home team, which is awful news for Houston. LaMarcus Aldridge had a calmer 29 points, 10 rebounds. Seven players on both teams combined had 21 or more points. Troy Daniels on Houston had 17 off the bench. Everyone else finished in single digits.

Deadspin mocks experienced Chicago reporter Peggy Kusinski

Deadspin is a fantastic sports blog that's a daily must go to, mainly for the stories you won't see anywhere else and other big sports conglomerates (like ESPN, CBS Sports, etc.) won't touch. Plus, their in-depth reporting without actual sports access is truly astonishing.

That's why it still amazes me that they're not above posts that just list racist tweets or blasting reporters. Last night, Timothy Burke posted about Peggy Kusinski's screw up with Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane after he scored a game-winning goal in overtime that tied the series up between the St. Louis Blues at 2-2. She asked if this was Kane's first game-winning OT goal, and he responded with, "I'll have to check on that."

Burke responded with posting a smarmy article on Deadspin and didn't even mention the reporter's name, apparently assuming that she was a no-name and was dismissive of her response on what went wrong. She said that it was supposed to be a lead-up question to him talking about the other goals, but that's not how it transpired, sounding like she was ignorant.

This is where I side with Kusinki and believe that Burke fails embarrassingly. Kusinski is a native Chicagan and has been a sports reporter for NBC5 since 2000. She's also been a production assistant at ESPN, helping produce shows like NFL GameDay, SportsCenter, and Outside the Lines. She's also won two National Emmy Awards with her work at ESPN and four Local Emmy Awards with her work at NBC5.

Not to be an asshole, but that's a bit more impressive of a resume than Timothy Burke, who creates GIFs at Deadspin and aided in some of their investigative stories like breaking the Manti Te'o fake girlfriend story.

Obviously Kusinski knows what she's doing and knows Kane's accomplishments. Not even referring to the reporter shows both laziness and your typical Deadspin BS that's thrown up in five minutes just to garner page views and trying to put down reporters.

The funny thing is, Deadspin just made Kusinski more famous by doing this. Because Deadspin caters to everyone, nearly all of their posts receive thousands of views. Not only were they wrong in trying to give her bad pub, but it's very obvious, and she's now more famous than she was a day before. It doesn't matter if there are more idiots tweeting at her and making fun of her. Bottom line is, more eyeballs have seen her name, and will now know who she is.

Everyone that bit on the hook of this article were absolute suckers. And Kusinski can simply laugh it up.

Any sports blogger should have a dream of getting blasted on Deadspin and receiving the free publicity. My predictions are usually horrendous, perhaps I'll get on there one day.