Schedule and 2013-14 Results
Regular Season Records: Chicago 46-21-15=107pts, Los Angeles 46-28-8=100pts
Game 1 on Sunday, 18 May: Los Angeles loses at Chicago, 3-goals-1
Game 2 on Wednesday, 21 May: Los Angeles wins at Chicago, 6-goals-2
Game 3 on Saturday, 24 May: Chicago loses at Los Angeles, 4-goals-3
Game 4 on Monday, 26 May: Chicago loses at Los Angeles, 5-goals-2
Game 5 on Wednesday, 28 May: Los Angeles loses at Chicago, 5-goals-4 (2OT)
Game 6 on Friday, 30 May: Chicago wins at Los Angeles, 4-goals-3
Game 7 on Sunday, 01 June: Los Angeles wins at Chicago, 5-goals-4 (OT)

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 7: The Los Angeles Kings visited and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-goals-4 in overtime to complete a 4-games-3 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 victory. With the series 1234 win, the Los Angeles Kings improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 17-20 overall and 3-2 in the Semifinals round. With the series 1234 loss, the Chicago Blackhawks see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 38-41 overall and 9-20 in the Semifinals round. The win order for the victorious Los Angeles Kings in series 1234 was LWWWLLW: Series 1234 thus becomes the second NHL Semifinals-round series, the ninth NHL series (all rounds), and the 17th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion. Los Angeles trailed by two goals as late as 16:30 into the first period and by one goal as late as 12:42 into the third period. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2013, inclusive, road teams down two goals 16:30 into the first period had a 33-243 (.120) game record, and road teams down a goal 12:42 into the third period had a 61-536 (.102) game record. Series 1234 Game 7 marks the 20th best-of-7 NHL playoff Game 7 won in overtime by the visiting team, and the first in the Semifinals round.

After Game 6: The Chicago Blackhawks visited and outscored the Los Angeles Kings 4-goals-3 to tie best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 at 3-games-all. When tied 3-games-all in a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series, the Chicago Blackhawks have a Game 7 record of 6-5 (5-2 on home ice, with an active four-Game 7 winning streak at home), while the Los Angeles Kings have a Game 7 record of 6-4 (4-3 on road ice). The Chicago Blackhawks thus seek to achieve a WLLLWWW win order for a series victory for the second consecutive playoff year, having also done so against the Detroit Red Wings in 2013. The Los Angeles Kings seek to join the 2011 NHL Boston Bruins and the 1988 NBA Los Angeles Lakers as the only MLB/NBA/NHL teams to win three Game 7s in the same playoff season. The Chicago Blackhawks hope to make the Los Angeles Kings become the only MLB/NBA/NHL team to lose three consecutive games in three consecutive best-of-7 playoff series in the same playoff season.

After Game 5: The Chicago Blackhawks hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-goals-4 in the second overtime period to drop the Los Angeles Kings best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1234 lead to 3-games-2. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Los Angeles Kings have a series record of 8-1 (with an active eight-series winning streak) and a Game 6 record of 7-2. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Chicago Blackhawks have a series record of 2-16 and a Game 6 record of 4-14. Series 1234 Game 5 featured a goal order of HHVHVVVHH. Once before in a best-of-7 NHL playoff game was the HHVHVVVHH goal order achieved - in series 705 Game 2, between the St. Louis Blues and the host Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1996 NHL Preliminary round, with the winning goal tallied in overtime in both series 1234 Game 5 and series 705 Game 2.

After Game 4: The Los Angeles Kings hosted and bested the Chicago Blackhawks 5-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 lead of 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Los Angeles Kings have a series record of 4-0 (with the last three such wins occurring in the 2012 NHL Preliminary, Semifinals, and Finals rounds) and a Game 5 record of 2-2. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Chicago Blackhawks have a series record of 1-11 (with the sole win occurring in the last such series - series 1198, over the Detroit Red Wings in the 2013 NHL Quarterfinals) and a Game 5 record of 4-8. The goal order in series 1234 Game 4 was HHHHVVH with the first goal occurring 9:00 into the first period and the last goal 18:58 into the third period; series 1234 Game 4 is thus very similar to series 877 Game 5 (with the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers in the 2003 NHL Preliminary round), in which the goal order was also HHHHVVH and in which the host Stars scored the first goal of the game 9:02 into the first period and the last goal 19:33 into the third period. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series, teams such as the Los Angeles Kings which post a LWWW @ VVHH win/site order through the first four games have a series record of 30-1, but the sole loss occurred in the last such series (series 1198, in the 2013 NHL Quarterfinals), by the Detroit Red Wings . . . to the Chicago Blackhawks; so it is that the defending NHL champion Chicago Blackhawks have recently been in this same situation.

After Game 3: The Los Angeles Kings hosted and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-goals-3 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 lead of 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Los Angeles Kings have a series record of 5-3 and a Game 4 record of 1-7 (with an active five-Game 4 losing streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Chicago Blackhawks have a series record of 12-17 (but with an active three-series winning streak) and a Game 4 record of 20-9. When posting a win/site order of LWW @ VVH through the first three games of a best-of-7 NHL playoff series (as they have in series 1234), the Los Angeles Kings went on to series victories in the 1993 NHL Quarterfinals and 1993 NHL Semifinals. The goal order in series 1234 Game 3 was VHVHHHV: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2013, inclusive, twice before was the goal order VHVHHHV – in series 703 Game 4 (Colorado Avalanche at Vancouver Canucks, 1996 Preliminary round); in series 1065 Game 2 (Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals, 2009 Quarterfinals round). Both road teams in that instance – Colorado in 1996; Pittsburgh in 2009 – went on to win the NHL championship that year.

After Game 2: The Los Angeles Kings visited and bested the Chicago Blackhawks 6-goals-2 to knot best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series, the Chicago Blackhawks have a series record of 17-11 and a Game 3 record of 15-13 (but 1-6 in their last seven Game 3s in the wake of a 1-game-all series tie), while the Los Angeles Kings have a series record of 7-9 (with an active four-series losing streak) and a Game 3 record of 5-11. The visiting Los Angeles Kings trailed series 1234 Game 2 by two goals as late as 18:13 into the second period. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2013, inclusive, road teams down two goals as late as 18:13 into the second period had a game record of 30-416 (.067). The Kings scored five goals in the third period of series 1234 Game 2, thus making series 1234 Game 2 the first best-of-7 NHL playoff game in which the road team scored five third-period goals since Game 5 of the 1994 NHL Finals (when the Vancouver Canucks did so in New York against the Rangers in series 665), and the first best-of-7 NHL playoff game in which the road team scored five unanswered third-period goals since Game 3 of a 1984 NHL Semifinals series (when the Edmonton Oilers did so in Minnesota against the old North Stars in series 432).

After Game 1: The Chicago Blackhawks hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-goals-1 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1234 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Chicago Blackhawks have a series record of 23-8 (with an active eight-series winning streak) and a Game 2 record of 18-13. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Los Angeles Kings have a series record of 7-15 and a Game 2 record of 9-13. In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff series, teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks which win Game 1 at home 3-goals-1 have a 29-10 (.744) series record.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2013-14 NHL regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks finished seven points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. From 1939 through the 2014 NHL Quarterfinals round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by seven regular-season points, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 16-10 (.615) in those series against those opponents (but with an active four-series losing streak). MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1234 is the 79th best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Chicago Blackhawks, and the 37th for the Los Angeles Kings. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Chicago Blackhawks have an all-rounds series record of 38-40, a Semifinals-round series record of 9-19, and a Game 1 record of 31-47, while the Los Angeles Kings have an all-rounds series record of 16-20, a Semifinals-round series record of 2-2, and a Game 1 record of 14-22. Series 1234 is the third best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings. Chicago won the first two (in the 2013 NHL Semifinals and in the 1974 NHL Quarterfinals).