Toews brushes aside talk of 2nd-period struggles
The Blackhawks have had their share of struggles in the second period this postseason, and Sunday's middle 20 was no different as they were outshot 17-6 by the Kings.
"I don't know (why)," Jonathan Toews said of the recent phenomenon. "I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to what happens throughout a game, whether they take it to us at a certain part of the game or trends that you guys might see.
"I don't think there's anything special to that or any hidden meanings or anything like that."
Great answer:
Here's goalie Corey Crawford's response to a postgame question about if facing Kings goalie Jonathan Quick affects his play:
"No, unless he skates down the ice and starts dangling around our guys. I mean, I'm focused on their players. It really doesn't affect my game, whatever goes on on the other end."
"Well said," podium mate Jonathan Toews said with a smile.
Finding his groove:
Since being a healthy scratch for Game 3 in Minnesota, Blackhawks defenseman Nick Leddy has been turning it on of late.
"Yeah, I think so," said Leddy, whose blast from the point was tipped in by his buddy Brandon Saad to open the scoring Sunday. "Like I said, in that series after that game, I've got to pick up my play and I think I've done a pretty good job at that.
"But we've got to keep going and get better."
By the numbers:
The Blackhawks are now 8-0 when scoring first during the 2014 playoffs. ... Brandon Saad, who opened the scoring Sunday with his first career postseason power-play goal, has a career-high 9 points through 13 postseason games. ... Marian Hossa tallied 2 assists Sunday for his fourth multi-point game of the playoffs. He ranks sixth in the league with a team-high 13 points in as many games, including 5 assists in his last four games.
He said it:
"It helps. There are five guys on the ice so there's no reason why five guys can't be in on the play."
- Duncan Keith, on the Hawks' defensemen adding to the scoresheet on a consistent basis.