Los Angeles Kings (+137) at Chicago Blackhawks (-151)

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS – Game 2 Wednesday, 8:00pm ET
Blackhawks Lead Series 1-0

The Blackhawks took the opener by a score of 3-1 and try to take a 2-0 series lead tonight against Los Angeles. The defending champs followed a similar path last year, beating the Kings in five games in the Western Conference Finals.

Chicago is finding ways to win against tough playoff competition in the West. "We felt this year we're in the toughest division and conference," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We just played two real competitive series (against St. Louis and Minnesota). Every game is tight. I think finding a way to win is what it's all about in today's game. Our guys are really diligent of doing the little things particularly that some nights give you an edge."

The Kings didn’t necessarily have a bad game in Sunday's loss. They possessed the puck well and created good opportunities. Now with two days off in between games, we can expect them to make improvements. They need to address ways of slowing down the Chicago blue-line by adding more pressure on Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews, who have been awesome. In general the pace was too fast for the Kings liking and they need to manage the speed of the game better. Goalie, Jonathan Quick also will have to outplay his counterpart, Corey Crawford in Game 2.

The never say die character of the Kings makes them never out of a series, especially with them only being down 1-0. They proved it when they were down 3-games-to-0 in the first round against the San Jose Sharks, showing their resiliency. Los Angeles would like to avoid having to climb such a tall mountain again, so expect them give the Hawks a big fight tonight. Only down 1-0, they are +230 to come back and win the series. The two day break should have slowed down Chicago's momentum, and the underdog Kings, who are +135 on the money line, are ready to figure out a way to win Game 2 of the NHL's 2014 Western Conference Finals before heading back to the west coast.

* Betting lines mentioned in this article are subject to change due to time sensitivity. Please visit the sports betting lines for up to date odds.