LOS ANGELES -- The Chicago Blackhawks waited in the dressing room while the Los Angeles Kings received their Stanley Cup championship rings and had a banner raised to the rafters of Staples Center.
The Hawks then took the ice and hit the Kings with everything they had to race to a 4-1 lead after two periods in the opening game of the 2013 season. Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Michael Frolik have scored goals on L.A. netminder Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford has been solid in net at the other end for the Hawks. Crawford has allowed only a goal by Rob Scuderi to spoil a shutout bid.
Kane started his and the Hawks’ season off in the right way and possibly exorcized some special teams demons from 2011-12 when the winger cashed in on the power play. Holding a two-man advantage, the Hawks controlled the puck and Kane worked his way low where Hossa fed him and Kane blasted a one-timer past Quick. It was the first goal scored in the NHL this season.
Hossa made it 2-0 as he flipped a puck into the slot trying to hit a streaking Jonathan Toews and it found its way past Quick. It was soon a three-goal advantage after Marcus Kruger carried the puck into the Los Angeles zone and slid a pass to Frolik, who snapped a shot from the high slot past a startled Quick.
Early in the second, Kane put on a burst of speed after scooping up a loose puck and raced in on Quick, who turned aside the breakaway attempt but left the puck sitting in the slot. Toews swooped in and batted it in and the rout was on.
The Hawks did not have a shutout all last season and that trend continued when Scuderi's long shot sailed past a screened Crawford late in the second period.
Toews is in the lineup after missing Friday's practice with the flu. Scratches for the Hawks are Brandon Saad, Jamal Mayers and Michal Rozsival.
ckuc@tribune.com
Twitter @ChrisKuc
Blackhawks Game Day: Race to 3-0 lead over Kings
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Blackhawks Game Day: Race to 3-0 lead over Kings
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Blackhawks Game Day: Race to 3-0 lead over Kings
