The thought was that, even with the Chicago Blackhawks struggling lately, they’d still provide the Los Angeles Kings with quite the battle tonight.
That … didn’t come to pass.
Instead, the Kings kept adding to an early 2-0 lead, ultimately beating the Blackhawks by a convincing score of 5-0.
With that, Los Angeles maintains its spot atop the Pacific Division – possibly providing some padding, depending upon how the Anaheim Ducks fare tonight – while the Blackhawks continue to slip.
Jonathan Quick stopped all 32 Blackhawks shots for his fourth shutout of the season and his 41st career goose egg. Corey Crawford, meanwhile, had a tough night.
Quick made some history with that 41st shutout, by the way:
After the Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Kris Versteeg line started off the scoring, other Kings joined in for a good time at their rivals’ expense.
The Kings’ twitter feed seemed pleased:
These stumbles are a concern for the Blackhawks, but perhaps this is just another March swoon before a deep run: