Tonight on NBCSN, it’s the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks at 9 p.m. ET. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:
• In 2013, Chicago eliminated Los Angeles in double-overtime of Game 5 of the Western Conf. Final at United Center. One year later, the Kings were unable to exact revenge at the same venue. Blackhawks center Michal Handzus scored at 2:04 of double-OT (his first-career playoff OT goal) to help his team stay alive. It marked the fourth straight year the Hawks have won an OT game when facing elimination.
Chicago OT winners when facing playoff elimination, final result in series
Ben Smith Game 6, 2011 Western Conf. Qtrs. vs. VAN Lost in Game 7 Jonathan Toews Game 5, 2012 Western Conf. Qtrs. at PHX Lost in Game 6 Brent Seabrook Game 7, 2013 Western Conf. Semis vs. DET Won series Handzus Game 5, 2014 Western Conf. Final vs. LA TBD
• The first overtime session of Game 5 featured a 7:56 span (from 8:41 to 16:37) without a whistle. That span included six shots on goal (four by L.A.), eight blocked shots (four by each team), six hits (three by each team), three missed shots (two by CHI), two takeaways (one by each team) and one giveaway (by CHI). In all, the 20-minute period needed all of 26 real-time minutes to be completed.
• For the first time this postseason, the Kings will have a chance to close out a series on home ice. They won their previous two series in Game 7s on the road (at SJ, at ANA). With a win, Los Angeles will join the Eastern Conf. champion N.Y. Rangers as the only teams in Stanley Cup history to win conference finals series after playing the maximum number of games (14) in the first two rounds of the playoffs. However, that task will not be easy. With their win in Game 5, the Blackhawks improved to 5-0 in Games 5-7 of a playoff series this postseason and 12-0 since the start of last postseason. In Game 6s on the road during that span, the defending champions won all three of their games by one goal (4-3 at DET, 3-2 at BOS in 2013; 2-1 at MIN in 2014).
• In Game 5, the Blackhawks’ line of LW Brandon Saad (1-3—4, +4) – C Andrew Shaw (0-2—2, +3) – RW Patrick Kane (0-4—4, +3) combined for nine points. Kane set career playoff highs for assists and points in a game after totaling just one assist in the first four games of the series. He became the first Blackhawks player to collect four assists in a playoff game since April 30, 1990, when Steve Larmer did so in Game 7 of the Norris Division Final vs. STL. (Elias Sports Bureau)
• Kings center Jeff Carter collected an assist in Game 5 to stretch his point streak to six games (5-7—12). He ranks second in these playoffs with 21 points (8-13—21), behind teammate Anze Kopitar’s 23 points (5-18—23). Carter, who has matched his postseason career high in goals, and set career highs in assists/points, has ten points (4-6—10) vs. Chicago, tied with Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (2-8—10) for the most in either of the two conference final series.
• Carter’s linemate, Tanner Pearson, scored his fourth goal of the postseason in Game 5 to extend his point streak to six games (3-4—7). That matches the longest playoff point streak by a rookie in Kings history (Daryl Evans, 1982 and Warren Rychel, 1993). Pearson leads all rookies with 12 points (4-8—12) in 17 postseason games after totaling 7 points (3-4—7) in 25 regular-season games.
• In Game 5, Kings winger Marian Gaborik scored his playoff-leading 11th goal, and is now one goal shy of matching Luc Robitaille (12 in 1991) for the second-most goals by an L.A. player in a single playoffs. Wayne Gretzky had a franchise-record 15 goals during the Kings’ first-ever run to the Cup Final, in 1993.