Richards, Blackhawks exact revenge on Kings

Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Brad Richards scored twice to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday in a rematch of last season's Western Conference Finals.

Daniel Carcillo and Brandon Saad also lit the lamp and Kris Versteeg supplied two assists for the Blackhawks, who have won three straight and six of their last seven games.

Corey Crawford turned aside 19 shots in his 14th consecutive start.

"We were definitely ready tonight and it showed," Crawford said. "It showed from the start all the way to the finish."

Jordan Nolan had the lone goal for the Kings, who eliminated the Blackhawks in a spirited seven-game series en route to their second Stanley Cup in three seasons.

"We put ourselves behind right away," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "It doesn't matter who you are playing, catch-up hockey is not easy."

Jonathan Quick made 21 stops in defeat.

The Blackhawks wasted no time getting on the board as Carcillo batted a shot out of mid-air for an early lead just 1:52 into the contest.

After Quick played the puck into traffic behind the net, Richards took a quick pass from Versteeg and increased Chicago's lead to 2-0 on a wrister with 2:01 to play in the first.

Nolan redirected Jake Muzzin's shot from the top of the left circle to cut the deficit in half 5:53 into the middle stanza.

Chicago regained its two-goal lead just over two minutes later. Michal Rozsival received a pass in the slot from Versteeg and dished the puck over to Richards, who tapped it in from the side of the net for his second of the game.

Saad scored on an empty net with 1:49 to play and Crawford stopped four shots in the third to preserve the win.

Game Notes

Richards fired a game-high five shots on net ... Chicago will return home to host the Blues on Wednesday after finishing 5-1-0 on its annual six-game circus road trip ... The Kings will face the Bruins at home on Tuesday.