CHICAGO Wayne Gretzky appeared on a national radio show Wednesday afternoon, and the subject of the conversation was dynasties. Gretzky, of course, knows a thing or two about the topic having won five Stanley Cups in seven years with the Edmonton Oilers during the 1980s. He said if the Chicago Blackhawks win another National Hockey League title this year — it would be their third in five years — they could qualify for the exclusive club.
He heaped even more praise on Chicago when he said that if he were to return to the NHL today he would most like to play with Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.
Gretzky was at United Center on Wednesday night for Game 2 of the Western Conference finals between the Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings, the team he played for after the Oilers. For nearly two periods, the Blackhawks put on a show for him. They scored in the first period when defenceman Nick Leddy sprang free on a power play for a breakaway and beat Jonathan Quick. Ben Smith made it 2-0 early in the second.
When the video board showed Gretzky enjoying the game in a suite with the Blackhawk legends Bobby Hull and Tony Esposito, the crowd cheered him. It felt like that kind of night, the sort where the home fans could applaud a former Kings star, Blackhawks role players would fill critical roles and the team would move a step closer to becoming the league’s first repeat champion since Detroit in 1998.
When Brent Seabrook finished a two-on-one rush in the second period with a punishing shot that was surprisingly saved by Quick, it felt more like delayed gratification than an omen.
But then the Kings’ Justin Williams stuffed a shot past Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford just before the second-period horn, and suddenly there was hope for Los Angeles.
Jeff Carter then redirected a Drew Doughty power-play shot past Crawford 1:37 into the third to tie the game. Two and a half minutes later Jake Muzzin fired a slap shot past Crawford high on the blocker side, again on the power play. Three goals in 5:50.
Tyler Toffoli added another goal five minutes later and Carter scored two more, including an empty-netter. When the onslaught was finished, the Kings emerged with a 6-2 victory, evening the best-of-seven series at one game apiece heading back to Los Angeles for Game 4 on Saturday.
The Blackhawks had not lost in seven homes games this postseason, and they had never lost to the Kings at Chicago during the playoffs. There were three wins in a 1974 quarter-final matchup and then three more during last season’s Western Conference finals when the Blackhawks dispatched the Kings in five games.
“Kind of like slaying the mythical dragon,” said the Kings’ captain, Dustin Brown.
While the Blackhawks may be wrestling with their place in history this spring, the Kings continue to grind out wins when the stakes at their highest. They trailed the San Jose Sharks three games to none in the first round of the playoffs, and they fell behind the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks three games to two in the second round.
In the aftermath of their latest comeback, the Kings’ locker-room was split on how the game was turned. There was praise for Williams’ goal, which cut their deficit to 1, and plenty for Quick, who made 23 saves, for coming up big with Chicago threatening to put the game away. “That’s why he’s the best goalie in the world,” Jordan Staal said.
“At some point they’re going to lose a game at home,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of his team’s mindset entering the third period. “They’re not going to win every one.”
The Blackhawks will now head west after letting one get away, even as the accolades continue to pour in.
Gretzky is not the only one to marvel at Chicago during these playoffs. Sutter called Jonathan Toews the best two-way forward in hockey this week and earlier in the postseason St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said Kane was the most dangerous player in the league.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville called the start to Game 2 perfect, for 38 minutes anyway. He would not say the collapse was caused by a lapse in concentration, but added, “We got to play right through periods, we got to play right through games.”
The last time the Kings scored five goals in the third period of a playoff game was May 7, 1993, in a 7-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Los Angeles was on its way to the Stanley Cup finals that year, led by none other than Gretzky, who scored two of the five goals.
“We have to reflect on what just happened and be ready to raise our own level of play,” Toews said. “We’re ticked off we let one slip away from us in our own building, but we can’t dwell on it too much.”