LOS ANGELES — Jonathan Toews urged the Blackhawks to play with an increased level of fire and determination in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Kings.
To put it bluntly, the captain called for the Hawks "to play pissed off."
Toews himself did just that, nearly single-handedly demolishing the Kings early before they slowly took control of Game 3 — and the best-of-seven series — with a 4-3 victory Saturday night at Staples Center.
"(Toews) led the way and it's up to the rest of us to follow," defenseman Duncan Keith said.
Many of them did not and as a result, the Hawks find themselves in a 2-1 deficit in the series that will continue here Monday.
Imagine how peeved Toews will be for Game 4 after the an inspired Kings squad out-classed the Hawks. The Kings sense blood after giving themselves an opportunity to take a commanding lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions before the series heads back to Chicago for Game 5.
Toews did everything he could as he played with an edge all game and had two goals, but they were for naught as the Kings handed the Hawks their 10th consecutive loss in the first road game of a postseason series dating to 2010.
Jeff Carter had a goal and two assists, Drew Doughty a goal and an assist, Slava Voynov and Tyler Toffoli scored and Jonathan Quick came up big in goal to stymie the Hawks.
Corey Crawford suffered the loss in goal as the Hawks lost battles all over the ice while at even strength and on special teams.
"We're pushing for another level every single game," Toews said. "It wasn't good enough (Saturday). We'll keep working on finding that next level in Game 4. We need to be the best we possibly can be.
"We've shown we can do that in the past. The motivation is right there in front of us now. There's nothing left to think about, just give everything you've got."
Not long after rock guitarist Slash stood at center ice and tore through the national anthem, Toews put the Hawks in good shape while short-handed when he stripped Justin Williams at the blue line, raced into the Kings zone and sent the puck past Quick to the glove side.
The one problem: The Kings were still on the power play and Voynov cashed in 50 seconds later to tie it.
Toews kept coming and notched his second of the game when he pounced on a rebound of a Michal Rozsival shot, kicked the puck to his stick and flipped it in to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead after one period.
After that, it was all Kings as they reeled off three consecutive goals before Patrick Sharp scored for the Hawks in the finals seconds to make the score respectable.
"It's a 2-1 series against the defending Stanley Cup champs, so I don't think there's such a thing as taking control," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "Both teams have shown they're able to battle adversity. But we did what we wanted to do (Saturday night). We got the lead in the series, now it's about re-setting and re-loading."
Suddenly, time is running short on the Hawks' bid to become the first repeat Cup winner since the Red Wings in 1997 and '98.
"We know we can find ourselves out of this tough situation," Toews said. "It's not ideal, it's not exactly what we wanted, to go down 2-1. We know what we have to do. We have our work cut out for us.
"Every game is a must-win. But now the motivation and the reason … is very clear. It's now or never."
ckuc@tribune.com
Twitter @ChrisKuc
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