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Kings know closing out Blackhawks won't be easy

The Kings know exactly what they're up against Wednesday night at the United Center as they try to close out the Blackhawks and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

"The toughest game to win in every series is the fourth game," said Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter. "Doesn't matter if it's the fourth, fifth, sixth or the seventh game of the series, it's the toughest one to win. That's all that you can look at."

The Hawks, on the other hand, know it's win Game 5 or bid the postseason farewell.

"We don't want to be down 3-1 in a series, ever, and we came back from it last year (against Detroit) and it was great for our team once we started rolling," defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "So we're going to be a desperate hockey team (Wednesday) night."

While the Red Wings were a formidable opponent last year, this 2013-14 version of the Kings has been out-and-out special throughout the postseason.

"They've got a real good club over there," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "They've had some interesting stretches in these playoffs this year."

Quenneville, who is hoping for some magic over the next few days, thinks if the Hawks could have put together complete games in any of the last three contests, the complexion of this series would've been altered dramatically.

"We feel we played two good periods in the last three games," he said. "The differential is one period where it got away from us. We've let in some uncharacteristic type of goals in this series that we probably haven't seen all year or in the playoffs, for sure, that we think are preventable.

"We shore that up and we'll keep ourselves in the game and find a way."

The good news for the Hawks is that they've been rock solid at the United Center this postseason, losing just once - to the Kings in Game 2.

Los Angeles is well aware.

"They were 7-0 at home," Sutter said. "We know it'll be tough. We know what the crowd's like. We know how they play in this building. It's a big challenge."

Add in the fact that the Hawks can let it all hang out in Game 5, and Quenneville is feeling pretty confident.

"There's always different things that can get their attention," he said. "But you're down 3-1, you're at home - you've got nothing to lose.

"Hey, let's play all out, have fun in our building and let's recapture the momentum. That's what we're talking about."

Because they know if they don't, the result is etched in stone …

"We've got to come out and we've got to lay everything on the line," Seabrook said, "or else our season's over."

mspellman@dailyherald.com

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