Chicago Blackhawks

Based on the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks are favored to oust the surging Boston Bruins and win their second Stanley Cup in the last four years. Then again, as the Los Angeles Kings showed last year, the regular season doesn't mean much in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Fact is, Boston - which had 15 fewer points than Chicago in the lockout-shortened, 48-game regular season - has been playing with a relaxed but focused attitude ever since it made the most remarkable Game 7 recovery in NHL history, way back in Round 1 against Toronto.

Former Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak (right), who won three Olympic gold medals and 10 world titles, works with Adam Barnes, 16, of River Falls, Wis., at Tretiak's hockey camp at Twin Rinks of Pennsauken. Tretiak, now a coach for the Chicago Blackhawks, is holding the camp this week for young players from throughout North America.

Corey Crawford made 28 saves and Andrew Shaw scored the only goal as the host Chicago Blackhawks stretched their NHL-record, season-opening point streak to 18 games with a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night. Crawford earned his seventh NHL shutout and second this season in his first start since Feb. 12. He outdueled Columbus' Steve Mason, who stopped 26 shots. Shaw provided all the offense in the second period for the Blackhawks (15-0-3), who haven't lost in regulation time this season and have earned 33 of a 36 possible points.

Jhonas Enroth stopped 32 shots in helping the host Buffalo Sabres keep up their late-season playoff push with a 3-1 win over the slumping Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. Tyler Ennis, with his first goal in 12 games, scored for Buffalo (18-19-6), which took over sole possession of 10th place in the Eastern Conference - four points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers. Hawks blank Blues Corey Crawford stopped 30 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks got goals from Bryan Bickell and Marian Hossa for a 2-0 win over host St. Louis, ending Blues goalie Brian Elliott's shutout streak at three games.

Joe Murphy of the Washington Capitals was cut on his face and neck early yesterday when he was hit on the head with a glass at a Manhattan club. Police said Murphy was struck by Amin Kallamni, who apparently was upset that the hockey player was talking to a woman who is the girlfriend of one of Kallamni's friends. Murphy, 33, was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was treated and released. The incident occurred hours after the New York Rangers beat the Capitals 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Two years ago, the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov and figured they had ended their l-o-o-o-o-n-g search for a shutdown goaltender. As it turns out, they already had an elite Russian goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. They just didn't realize it. Bobrovsky, now with the Columbus Blue Jackets, was named Wednesday as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the league's top goaltender. The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist and San Jose's Antti Niemi were the other finalists in voting by NHL general managers.

CHICAGO - For all the history the Chicago Blackhawks created with their remarkable start this NHL season, it was a relative newcomer and former Flyer, goalie Ray Emery, who played a central role. It's also Emery, 15-1-0 with a 1.90 goals-against average, who is at the top of his game as the Blackhawks, in first place in the Western Conference, gird for the playoffs. On Tuesday, Emery made his third straight start, stopped 20 shots, and earned his third shutout of the season with a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild.

MARIAN HOSSA scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks moved to the brink of the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 victory over the Kings in Los Angeles last night in Game 4 of the West finals. Patrick Kane tapped home the tying goal as Chicago rallied from a second-period deficit to snap the defending champions' 15-game home-winning streak. Bryan Bickell had a goal and an assist for the top-seeded Blackhawks, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Rookie Andrew Shaw recorded his first two-goal game, and the host Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Washington Capitals, 5-2, on Sunday night for their third straight win. Viktor Stalberg, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell also scored for Chicago, which is 7-1-1 in its last nine despite playing without captain and leading goals scorer Jonathan Toews. Mike Knuble and Alex Ovechkin scored for Washington, which lost its second straight following a four-game winning streak. Corey Crawford made 16 saves and in his second straight start.

CHICAGO Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Tuesday that, despite rumors, he has no plans to head to the Montreal Canadiens, where friend and former Blackhawks assistant general manager Marc Bergevin is now the GM. "I think over the last few days there was some speculation on other things that were going on about here in Chicago and me being somewhere else, and first and foremost, I'm excited about being here in Chicago," said Quenneville, who...

BOSTON - Tuukka Rask shut out the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night and got enough help from the Bruins' offense to do it without another exhausting overtime. After playing four extra periods in the first two games, the Bruins made an early night of it with second-period goals by Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron to win, 2-0, and take a two-games-to-none lead in the Stanley Cup Finals. "A win is a win. We'll take a win any day," said Rask, who stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the 2013 playoffs.

TYLER SEGUIN knew something had to be said. And he was pretty sure it wouldn't be fit for public consumption. After the Chicago Blackhawks badly outplayed the Boston Bruins in the first period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals Saturday night, Seguin ditched the microphone he had been wearing in his shoulder pads as part of the TV broadcast. Then he headed back into the dressing room so the team could hash out its problems in peace. Whatever was said worked, as the Bruins rallied for a 2-1 overtime victory in Chicago, tying the series, 1-1, with Game 3 tonight in Boston.

AGENDA STANLEY CUP FINALS Chicago Blackhawks (36-7-5) vs. Boston Bruins (28-14-6). (Best-of-seven; x-if necessary) TV: NBC, Games 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7; NBC Sports Network, Games 2 and 3. Game 1: Tonight Bruins at Blackhawks, 8 Game 2: Saturday Bruins at Blackhawks, 8 p.m. Game 3: Monday Blackhawks at Bruins, 8 p.m. Game 4: Wednesday, June 19 Blackhawks at Bruins, 8 p.m. x-Game 5: Saturday, June 22...

COREY CRAWFORD was in the stands when Patrick Kane slammed home the goal that secured the Stanley Cup for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. A year later, Tuukka Rask was just a practice player when Tim Thomas led the Boston Bruins to the title. Fast forward to tonight at the United Center, and Crawford and Rask will be in goal when the Blackhawks host the Bruins in Game 1 of the Cup finals. It's been a long road, but that little taste of the Stanley Cup turned into much more for two of the most important players for this series.

Based on the regular season, the Chicago Blackhawks are favored to oust the surging Boston Bruins and win their second Stanley Cup in the last four years. Then again, as the Los Angeles Kings showed last year, the regular season doesn't mean much in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Fact is, Boston - which had 15 fewer points than Chicago in the lockout-shortened, 48-game regular season - has been playing with a relaxed but focused attitude ever since it made the most remarkable Game 7 recovery in NHL history, way back in Round 1 against Toronto.

TWO FRANCHISES, rich in history, talent and star power. Two winning teams that know what it takes to bring home the Stanley Cup. Intrigue, in the form of a schedule that kept them away from each other for an entire season. Oh, there's plenty to love about this series. The Stanley Cup finals kick off Wednesday night when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Boston Bruins in the first finals matchup of Original Six franchises since Montreal beat the New York Rangers in five games way back in 1979.

CHICAGO - Two franchises, rich in history, talent and star power. Two winning teams that know what it takes to bring home the Stanley Cup. Intrigue, in the form of a schedule that kept them away from each other for an entire season. Oh, there's plenty to love about this series. The Stanley Cup Finals start Wednesday night when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Boston Bruins in the first Finals matchup of Original Six franchises since Montreal beat the New York Rangers in five games in 1979.

When the Chicago Blackhawks were in deep trouble in the second round of the playoffs, they used desperation to their advantage and pulled off a big comeback in an already impressive season. After the Blackhawks lost top defenseman Duncan Keith to a suspension before Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, Chicago didn't let the Los Angeles Kings get even, despite their dominant home record. Now that the top-seeded Blackhawks are just one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, they want to play with the same sense of urgency when they hit the ice at home for Game 5 on Saturday night.

MARIAN HOSSA scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks moved to the brink of the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 victory over the Kings in Los Angeles last night in Game 4 of the West finals. Patrick Kane tapped home the tying goal as Chicago rallied from a second-period deficit to snap the defending champions' 15-game home-winning streak. Bryan Bickell had a goal and an assist for the top-seeded Blackhawks, who took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.