CHICAGO — The first victory in the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Jeremy Colliton era was a while in coming.But after a 1-0 victory on Wednesday snapped Chicago’s eight-game losing streak and gave Colliton his first NHL coaching victory Martin Jones Jersey , the Blackhawks will attempt to string two victories together on Friday against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.Like the Blackhawks (7-8-4), the Kings have struggled to start the season and, like Chicago, have fired a head coach. So now, two teams who helped dominate the NHL’s Western Conference only a few years back will attempt to pick up a win on Friday to try to move away from a forgettable stretch of hockey.Article continues below ...For Colliton, finding a way to a way to win on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues was a step in the right direction.“Happy for the guys to get rewarded,” Colliton told reporters after the victory, according to the team’s official website. “It’s not a lot of fun to see (the losses) add up, so very happy for the group. They battled really hard.”Brent Seabrook provided the lone goal for Chicago Womens Melker Karlsson Jersey , which is 1-2-1 under Colliton, who took over after Joel Quenneville was fired. Corey Crawford made 28 saves and registered his first shutout since November 2017.For Crawford, who returned earlier this season after not playing since December with a concussion, Chicago’s ability to return to the win column was a sign that a team not accustomed to losing is starting to find some confidence as they adjust to Colliton’s style in moving the Blackhawks forward.“It was good. We’ve been waiting a while (we) kind of forgot what it was like to win there for a bit,” Crawford told reporters. “I thought our guys played really well (Wednesday), everyone played together. We didn’t make that many mistakes.”For the Kings, regaining the winning feeling has been a goal as well. Los Angeles enters Friday’s game having lost three straight. The Kings have managed just two goals in the three losses, the latest of which came in a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.As the losses have mounted this season, the frustration has only built to a more fevered pitch as evidenced by the Kings’ performance in the last three games.“This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my hockey career Adidas John Moore Jersey , that all of us have had to deal with in our hockey career,” defenseman Drew Doughty said Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “You want to put a finger on it and you want to know exactly why this is happening but it’s hard to figure out. It has to come from within. We can’t be waiting for guys to make it happen. We can’t all be looking at Kopi for him to take the reins and take it over. We all need to individually pick it up ourselves and one by one we need to go out there and do exactly what we’re supposed to do and not wait for other guys to do it for us.“We’ve got to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves. And that’s the biggest problem I see with our team right now.” What a difference a year makes.A year ago at this time, the Winnipeg Jets weren’t even in the playoffs and the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t even have players.Now they’re getting ready to pit their depth, speed and two of the postseason’s best goaltenders against each other when the Western Conference final gets underway in Winnipeg on Saturday night.”We know what they bring, we know that they’re good, that they maybe surprised a few teams, but not really,” said Paul Stastny Tim Heed Jersey , whose Jets advance to the final with a Game 7 victory over the Predators on Thursday night. ”They had 109 points. In a sense they play like us, they have a lot of depth and they can roll four lines and they have good, puck-moving D. So we’re going to have our hands full for sure.”Vegas beat the Jets in two of their three regular-season meetings, splitting the two games in Winnipeg and winning the lone meeting at T-Mobile Arena. Two of those games were with Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury out with an injury.Fleury has had a tremendous postseason, registering four shutouts, a .951 save percentage and 1.53 goals-against average – all career bests. Appearing in his first postseason, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has a 2.24 GAA and a .927 save percentage.Fleury had five days off in between series while Hellebuyck will have had just 48 hours to prepare for one of the fastest and most potent offenses in the league.”It is a quick turnaround,” Hellebuyck said Thursday night. ”We’re going to get our rest, we’re going to enjoy tonight and get back to it. Rest is a weapon Womens Tomas Hertl Jersey , but I think the way we battle in this room, I think we’re prepared for anything.”Here are other things to watch in this series:SCORINGThe Jets have some of the best scoring depth of any team in the NHL, led by 44-goal scorer Patrik Laine. And he’s on the second line. Winnipeg’s top line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler scored a combined 208 points in the regular season. The Jets’ second line wasn’t far behind, with Laine, Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers scoring 183 points. Winnipeg is tied with Washington for the most goals (43) during the playoffs.Vegas also boasts two potent lines but is capable of rolling four dangerous lines to balance the scoring across 12 forwards. The Golden Knights had four players finish with at least 60 points this season, led by William Karlsson (43 goals, 35 assists). Linemates Jonathan Marchessault (75 points) and Reilly Smith (60 points) complete one of the best lines in the NHL.RAGING ROOKIESBoth teams have first-year phenoms who can’t be overlooked.Vegas’ Alex Tuch has four goals and three assists as the sole postseason rookie for the Golden Knights.Winnipeg forward Kyle Connor scored his first two career playoff goals and added an assist in Game 5 against Nashville to become the first rookie in franchise history to post a three-point game in the playoffs. Connor, who scored nine goals over his last 13 regular-season games Adidas Jaroslav Halak Jersey , had two assists in the Jets’ 5-1 victory over the Predators in Game 7.REST OR RUSTThe Golden Knights may have the advantage of rested legs, but they also will catch a dangerous Jets team that could still be fueled by momentum from Thursday’s win. Vegas had a long layoff after the first round and beat the Sharks 7-0 in Game 1 of the next series. But San Jose also had extended time off.ROAD WARRIORSBoth teams have shown they can win on the road in the playoffs.The Golden Knights won Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles to complete a first-round sweep of the Kings, then took Games 3 and 6 in San Jose. Vegas has lost only once on the road in the postseason.Winnipeg is 4-2 on the road in the playoffs after splitting a pair in Minnesota in its opening-round series against the Wild. They took three on Nashville’s home ice.—