Kings go for broke and beat Blackhawks, 3-1 Maybe it will be remembered as an end-to-end rush in years to come. Not as one broken play and a broken stick. The latter was precisely how the Kings grabbed the playoff life raft and clambered aboard, turning the Western Conference finals with Chicago into a legitimate series. They beat the Blackhawks, 3-1, in Game 3 on Tuesday night at Staples Center with the winning goal on Slava Voynov's broken-stick effort. It was the Kings' eighth consecutive win at home during the playoffs and 15th in a row overall at Staples Center. Chicago leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Game 4 will be Thursday night at Staples Center, and now Game 5 is Saturday at United Center. The Kings, again, were without their leading playoff scorer, center Mike Richards, who is out because of a suspected concussion. Voynov's goal, at 6:37 of the second period, made it 2-0 and the insurance goal, an empty-netter with 27.3 seconds remaining in the game, came from Dwight King after the Blackhawks had cut the lead to 2-1 with Bryan Bickell's wraparound goal with 33.6 seconds left in the second period. Kings forward Justin Williams, who had said the season was on the line, followed his own words and opened the scoring, at 3:21 of the first period. It was his sixth playoff goal. "We know the stats, the teams that have come back from 3-0," Williams said. It's not good. I said before the game, it wasn't a must-win but it was a must-win. We responded with a great effort, top to bottom. We got it done. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, pulled in Game 2, spoke about the consistency of Williams, saying: "He scored many clutch goals so far in these playoffs. We probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Quick's highlight save came with about three minutes remaining as he managed to get his blocker on Bickell's shot, denying what would have been the game-tying goal. "I saw it all the way, into my blocker," Quick said. When he's that close, you get that split second where you don't know if you're going to get a piece of it or not. Richards was the Kings' leading playoff scorer until Voynov passed him in Game 3 with the winning goal to go along with an assist on the Williams goal. Voynov has five goals and 11 points in 16 games. Jeff Carter, with two assists, also has 11 points. "He's hot right now," Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin said of Voynov. He is hot. An unusual series of events led to Voynov's goal. Rookie Tyler Toffoli lost control of the puck and it slipped between the legs of Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith, going to Voynov. Voynov's shot from the circle managed to shatter his own stick and might have thrown off the Blackhawks and goalie Corey Crawford. The Kings are used to the young Russian defenseman's ability to go through sticks an amazing rate. "I'm just glad he finally broke a stick and actually got the puck on net," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. He breaks more sticks than anybody I've seen. Voynov has been the Kings' most consistent offensive option. The reliability of the defenseman has helped the Kings during this injury-plagued stretch. Kings Coach Darryl Sutter reached deep into his reserves and pulled out a variety of creative, interesting and ultimately effective changes in the lineup. He dropped the slumping Anze Kopitar to center the third line and had Jarret Stoll centering the first line. Kopitar took the move in his usual measured stride. "Kopi joked he should be up for the Selke because they got him off our line and we score right away," Brown said of the award given to the top defensive forward. I've said it before, whether it's Quickie getting pulled last game or myself going down to the third line. Or Tyler coming up to the second line. It's about giving our team the best opportunity regardless of where individuals are playing. We all at some point in our careers have played, somewhere.