Fight us » Schierholtz and Ryan Sweeney in the outfield

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Although Chicago and Los Angeles have won the last two Stanley Cup titles, Matt Greene and his fellow Kings realize the Blackhawks have been superior whenever the two championship teams were on the ice together recently. Chicagos recent mastery of the Kings completely came apart in one crazy period, and the Blackhawks are headed to the West Coast to figure out how to get it back. When the teams return Saturday night for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, the Kings hope to build on their five-goal third period in a 6-2 victory on Wednesday night, evening the series in dramatic fashion. Until Game 2, Chicago had beaten the Kings six straight times and in nine of the clubs last 10 meetings dating back to last seasons conference finals. The Blackhawks had been faster and more offensively creative than the Kings, but it all went away in a barrage of goals that set a distinctly different tone for Game 3. "Its been a series thats gone in their favour for the last couple of years now," Greene said Thursday at the Kings training complex. "Weve got to do our best to change that. If we could put a finger on it, we would. But its up to us to figure it out and to keep it going and get some more wins. ... I dont think they have a mental edge on us, no. Youve just got to go out and play." Both teams essentially took Thursday off, gathering only for travel or a team meeting. While the Kings downplayed the importance of momentum from their win, the Blackhawks had an extra day to absorb the shock of their second four-goal defeat in the last six playoff games. "I woke up this morning way more angry than I exited the game," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday before the team flew to the West Coast. "Normally its the other way around. ... A game like that is a game that should get your attention, and I think thats where were at." Quenneville felt the loss was a significant setback for the Blackhawks only because of how it occurred. The two-time champion coach couldnt recall such an abrupt reversal of momentum against Chicago in any game this season. Quenneville thought his team essentially played a perfect game for the first 38 minutes, taking a 2-0 lead before it all fell apart with Los Angeles first goal. The Blackhawks arent a team that falls apart, but the Kings have a way of making opponents do things they never imagined under playoff pressure. "I think it was probably a little bit of a shock to us all," Chicago defenceman Nick Leddy said. "But thats how playoffs are." The Kings feel it wasnt just momentum that gave them home-ice advantage in this series. Los Angeles had been making strides against the defending champions for months, and coach Darryl Sutter thought his team played much better in its series-opening defeat than its victory. "I dont think it was momentum," Sutter said. "It was more once we were down two (goals), I think it was our ability — and were good at that — our ability to stay with it and stick with the game." That game is showing a few unexpected facets lately. The Kings are now the highest-scoring team in the Stanley Cup playoffs with 3.25 goals per game, a shocking number for a defence-first team that struggled mightily to score for much of the regular season. But the Kings success in Game 2 was due to its usual strengths on defence. Los Angeles defence on Chicagos top scorers was uniformly solid. Anze Kopitar shadowed Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, who didnt record a shot, while Patrick Kane failed to score a point for the second straight game. The Kings excelled on special teams, killing a two-man Chicago advantage and scoring the tying and go-ahead goals on their own power plays. Los Angeles also dominated the faceoff circle, following up its impressive work late in the second round against Anaheim. "Theyre huge momentum-swingers every time," Greene said. "A good (penalty-kill) can do wonders for you in terms of momentum, and a good power play. The coaches do a good job emphasizing you dont need to score on the power play. You just need to make sure you build momentum and get a good two minutes going in their zone. Last night, everything was clicking. Those were two huge power-play goals for us there. They really turned around the game in our favour." Bruising forward Andrew Shaw is expected to be available to the Blackhawks for Game 3 after missing Wednesdays game with a lower-body injury, his seventh straight game out of the lineup. The Kings arent likely to see defenceman Robyn Regehr, whose knee injury has kept him out for eight games. Taijuan Walker Jersey . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. Kyle Lewis Mariners Jersey . After all, the No. 8 seed is chasing far loftier goals. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Wimbledons second round on Thursday. https://www.cheapmariners.com/2775k-jeff...y-mariners.html. Spains victory rendered Frances 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil. Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivios own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers. Bret Boone Mariners Jersey . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges. Tim Beckham Mariners Jersey . -- Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice tweeted an apparent goodbye after a report about his pending release. LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Chicago Cubs obtained the right-handed outfield bat they needed, acquiring Justin Ruggiano from the Miami Marlins for lefty swinging Brian Bogusevic. The deal was announced at baseballs winter meetings Thursday. Ruggiano, who turns 32 in April, has played parts of five big league seasons with Tampa Bay (2007-08, 2011) and Miami (2012-13). He hit a career-high 18 homers in 472 at-bats for Miami last year. Hes a .251 hitter for his career. In 317 games, he has 37 homers and 1099 RBIs.dddddddddddd. The Cubs had left-handers Nate Schierholtz and Ryan Sweeney in the outfield, making Bogusevic available for trades. Bogusevic, who turns 30 in February, hit .273 with six homers and 16 RBI in 47 games last year. In 299 games over four years -- the first three in Houston -- Bogusevic has 17 homers and 62 RBIs with a .273 average. He could help fill the hole created by lefty Logan Morrison, who was dealt to Seattle on Wednesday for reliever relief pitcher Carter Capps. ' ' '