SET THE STAGE: 2013 Conference Final, Game 1

Following Brent Seabrook's overtime heroics in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals, there was no time to celebrate. The Blackhawks, after all, were only halfway home.

Just three nights later, the defending Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings were on the same United Center bench from which the Red Wings watched their season end, and a series began anew.

2013 REWIND

**REWIND**: Schedule and More Info

**ONE GOAL**: Blackhawks Outlast Wings in Seven

**WATCH**: Marian Hossa One-on-One

"That still goes down as one of the most important games in Blackhawks history. Everybody still talks about the Seabrook goal, finally beating Detroit in a playoff series with that group. The building was unbelievable," Patrick Sharp said of the 72 hours to reset for a new challenge. "And all of the sudden a couple days later you turn around and you're in the Conference Finals against a pretty good team that had won the Cup the year before."

Both teams were fresh off the highs of a Game 7 victory. L.A. had dispatched their northern neighbors from San Jose in a back-and-forth series in the other Conference Semifinal a night before Chicago's showdown against Detroit. Mr. Game 7 himself, Justin Williams, scored both of the Kings goals in a 2-1 win.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Final was a pivotal test of which team could re-focus while maintaining the momentum. Williams kept his with a late first-period tally to take the opening lead, but Sharp and Marian Hossa bounced back in the second frame and Chicago's kept rolling from there.

"We had a lot of respect for the Kings and what they could do and it was just a much different series for us," Sharp said. "They were a big, physical team, they wanted to slow things down, where as we're the team that wanted skate, make plays and put the puck in the net. It was a good matchup for us that year.

"Looking back on all the opponents that we had with those great Blackhawks teams, the Kings - not just that year, in future years - we had some pretty good series against the L.A. Kings."