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Kings remain confident about Game 7

LOS ANGELES - As badly as they were feeling after dropping their second straight game to the Blackhawks to force a Game 7 in Chicago, the Kings could at least take solace in knowing that they've gone on the road this postseason and won Game 7s already.

Twice.

"We've been in that spot a few times; we know how to deal with it," said Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty. "We're still a confident group.

"We know we lost tonight, so we're over it already. We're ready to move on and we're ready to win a game in Chicago."

The Kings won the mythical California championship this postseason with Game 7 victories at San Jose and at Anaheim. Now they face their sternest test yet against the defending champions.

"Not really," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said when asked if there's any difference this time around. "Just a third round and a better opponent."

According to the league, no team has ever one three Game 7s and then gone on to win the Stanley Cup.

Well, the Kings can't wait to try and change that in this heavyweight showdown of a Western Conference finals.

"Hey, it's been a great series," Sutter said. "Now it comes down to one game."

High praise:

How good was Brandon Saad's 1-goal, 2-assist performance Wednesday in Game 5?

Try this out for size: "That might have been the best individual performance by any Blackhawk player in the last five years," Hawks analyst Eddie Olczyk said on "NHL Live."

Mission accomplished?

Has it become win the Cup or else for the Hawks?

Pretty much.

"I don't think we look at it as a success if we don't win," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "I think with the group of guys we have in here, especially the core guys, I think that's our goal.

"We've done a few things right to get to this point, but I don't think anybody in our room's satisfied with just getting to the Western Conference finals."

Finally:

After 24 swings and misses on the power play while away from the United Center, Patrick Kane's second-period goal on the man advantage put an end to that streak. The last postseason PP road goal by the Hawks came way back in Game 1 against St. Louis.

Boffo numbers:

Wednesday night's 5-4 double-overtime victory by the Hawks is the most-watched Western Conference finals game on cable in five years.

The game averaged 2.175 million viewers, up 79 percent over the last Western finals Game 5 on cable between Los Angeles and Phoenix (1.217 million) in 2012. Viewing peaked at 3.14 million viewers from 10:15-10:30 p.m. Central time.

Locally, Chicago drew its second-best WCF rating ever on NBCSN with a 16.3 rating, while Los Angeles delivered only a 3.0 rating for the game.

Grabbing some bench:

After struggling in Game 5 and not playing beyond regulation, Kris Versteeg was scratched Friday and replaced in the lineup by Sheldon Brookbank. Brookbank had 2 hits and a blocked shot in just over five minutes of ice time.

He said it:

"He doesn't have bad games. He has good games or great games."

- Kings coach Darryl Sutter on Patrick Kane, who scored the Hawks' first goal and the game-winner … and also added an assist.

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