Home » Sports » Ice Hockey
Blues on the brink as Kings cruise, Devils fly high
Source: Agencies |
May 5, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE giant-killing Los Angeles Kings pushed the St Louis Blues to the brink of elimination with a 4-2 home victory in Game 3 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal on Thursday.
Buoyant after successive road wins, the eighth-seeded Kings scored through Justin Williams, Dwight King, Mike Richards and Drew Doughty to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.
"I'm impressed with our team right now," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters. "It's not about individuals. We didn't give up many shots but we could have managed the puck better in our zone.
"I think we were really good. This was as good of a third period we've played in three months."
Williams opened the scoring with a wrist shot in the first period and, though Chris Stewart replied for the Blues with a backhanded goal early in the second, King and Richards put the home team 3-1 ahead.
Stewart scored his second of the night early in the third period before Doughty sealed the win for the rampant Kings with a slap shot.
Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick made 18 saves and his team are now poised to reach the Western Conference final for the first time since 1993, when they made their only trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Kings, who upset the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, will aim to sweep the second-seeded Blues in Game 4 in Los Angeles tonight.
In the Eastern Conference, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored late in overtime to earn the New Jersey Devils a 4-3 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers and a 2-1 lead in their semifinal.
Left wing Ponikarovsky struck with a backhanded shot on his own rebound with 2:39 remaining to put the Devils in control of the best-of-seven series.
Buoyant after successive road wins, the eighth-seeded Kings scored through Justin Williams, Dwight King, Mike Richards and Drew Doughty to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.
"I'm impressed with our team right now," Kings head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters. "It's not about individuals. We didn't give up many shots but we could have managed the puck better in our zone.
"I think we were really good. This was as good of a third period we've played in three months."
Williams opened the scoring with a wrist shot in the first period and, though Chris Stewart replied for the Blues with a backhanded goal early in the second, King and Richards put the home team 3-1 ahead.
Stewart scored his second of the night early in the third period before Doughty sealed the win for the rampant Kings with a slap shot.
Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick made 18 saves and his team are now poised to reach the Western Conference final for the first time since 1993, when they made their only trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Kings, who upset the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round, will aim to sweep the second-seeded Blues in Game 4 in Los Angeles tonight.
In the Eastern Conference, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored late in overtime to earn the New Jersey Devils a 4-3 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers and a 2-1 lead in their semifinal.
Left wing Ponikarovsky struck with a backhanded shot on his own rebound with 2:39 remaining to put the Devils in control of the best-of-seven series.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
