Well, the Kings now lead the Hawks 2 -1 in the series and they have certainly demonstrated that they have what it takes to be worthy of hoisting Lord Stanley. But can they keep it up?
I've always said that it's impossible to win the Cup without outstanding goaltending, and Quick is proving himself to be as up to the challenge as Crawford. Both of them have come up big in the last three games to keep many pucks out of the net that should have gone in.
I would consider the difference in the series to be the ability of LA to adapt to the Hawks' fast, up-ice style of play by aggressively clogging up the passing lanes and giving out lots and lots of hits. Almost as important is the bad penalties that the Hawks took and which were capitalized on by the Kings. In particular, the Hawks really struggled for great lengths of time to get the puck out of their zone and giveaways were far more numerous than Chicago wanted. LA seems to have forced Chicago, by virtue of their aggressive play, into abandoning their fast style of play and defaulting to a dig-and-grind that the Hawks apparently can't get comfortable with.
Can the Kings keep it up? The Hawks are also adaptable and have shown themselves to be able to come back from behind from situations like this before. But LA is obviously hungry and are driven to succeed in a way that the Stanley Cup defenders are not.
Who the hell knows??? All I can say is: this is what playoff hockey is all about!
I've always said that it's impossible to win the Cup without outstanding goaltending, and Quick is proving himself to be as up to the challenge as Crawford. Both of them have come up big in the last three games to keep many pucks out of the net that should have gone in.
I would consider the difference in the series to be the ability of LA to adapt to the Hawks' fast, up-ice style of play by aggressively clogging up the passing lanes and giving out lots and lots of hits. Almost as important is the bad penalties that the Hawks took and which were capitalized on by the Kings. In particular, the Hawks really struggled for great lengths of time to get the puck out of their zone and giveaways were far more numerous than Chicago wanted. LA seems to have forced Chicago, by virtue of their aggressive play, into abandoning their fast style of play and defaulting to a dig-and-grind that the Hawks apparently can't get comfortable with.
Can the Kings keep it up? The Hawks are also adaptable and have shown themselves to be able to come back from behind from situations like this before. But LA is obviously hungry and are driven to succeed in a way that the Stanley Cup defenders are not.
Who the hell knows??? All I can say is: this is what playoff hockey is all about!
