Alben/Singles/DVDs » Blackhawks had their usual hundreds of red-clad fan

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon is feeling rejuvenated as the NASCAR Sprint Cup season winds down. Gordon carried over a strong performance in Kansas last weekend to Thursday night by winning the pole for the race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon, who is fourth in the Chase standings, said its been a frustrating season but that hes feeling better with each passing race. "I feel like we knocked it out of the park tonight," Gordon said. Gordon turned a lap at 194.308 mph to edge Kevin Harvick for his ninth pole at Charlotte, tied for the second most in track history. Greg Biffle qualified third for the Saturday night race, Jimmie Johnson was fourth, and Kasey Kahne -- who held the pole for most of the night -- will start fifth on Saturday night. Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his 39th birthday by qualifying sixth for his 500th Sprint Cup start. Ryan Newman was seventh, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Gordon was upbeat after the qualifying, saying things are finally starting to mesh for the No. 24 Chevrolet team. "The thing is its really hard to maintain your confidence in what youre doing when youre struggling," Gordon said. "I felt like all year long we have been racing better than we have been qualifying, but that qualifying was a weakness for us and we needed to get better track position. Its hard not to get down when things arent going well. ... Its hard to come in here all bubbly and having fun, because honestly it wasnt fun." The 42-year-old Gordon hasnt won a race on the Sprint Cup series this year, but believes hes going to need to win one to have a legitimate shot at winning is fifth Cup championship. Gordon enters the weekend 32 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with six races left. Kenseth qualified 20th. "This will be one of our worst qualifying efforts of the year so we have a lot of work to do," Kenseth said. Kahne was hoping Thursday night would give his team momentum after what has been a disappointing showing so far in the Chase. He enters the weekend in 13th place, 83 points behind Kenseth. For a while it looked like his early lap would hold up. But then a series of drivers eclipsed his time, capped finally by Gordon, who had the last car on the track. "There were a lot of good cars at the end of the session and that kept leading up to things getting faster and faster," Harvick said. Gordon called it "the most exciting qualifying pole ever." Harvick said he would have been happy starting on the outside row had he not won from the pole last week at Kansas. "Obviously we wanted to be greedy and get that again tonight," Harvick said. "But its been nice to see the speed. It seems like everybody is able to find a little more and dig deeper when it is Chase time." Kyle Larson, making his Sprint Cup debut in Phoenix Racings No. 51 Chevrolet, qualified 21st. Johnson, who has had incredible success at Charlotte, is hoping for a good finish to jump ahead of Kenseth. Johnson enters the weekend three points behind Kenseth. "Weve had some really strong runs here over the years," Johnson said. Travis Kvapil qualified 41st one day after being released from police custody on $2,000 bond. He was arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanour assault on a female and false imprisonment. "Im obviously embarrassed about the situation," Kvapil said. "I dont like the negative effects that it has brought on. So I apologize to NASCAR, my team, supporters of my team, my fans and anyone else that was impacted by Tuesday night." Divock Origi Jersey . By then it was clear: The 76ers were going to win for the first time in two months, and they were going to do it with ease. The 76ers snapped their NBA record-tying, 26-game losing streak, routing the Detroit Pistons 123-98 on Saturday night to avoid establishing the longest skid in U. 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LOS ANGELES -- Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson are among the few Los Angeles Kings who dont have a Stanley Cup ring from two years ago. Jeff Carter is grateful the youngsters are carrying him along on their own Cup chase after their line came up with another monster game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Carter had a goal and two assists, Toffoli scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Kings beat Chicago 4-3 on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals. Drew Doughty had a third-period goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves as the Kings returned to Staples Center with an impressive two-way effort against the defending Stanley Cup champions. "Im having so much fun with these guys," said Toffoli, who has scored a goal in every game of the conference finals. "Getting to play with a guy like Carter is a great opportunity, and (Pearson) and me are trying to live up to him." Game 4 is Monday night at Staples Center. Three days after Carter had four points in the third period of Game 2, Los Angeles got another dominant effort from the line centred by the veteran goal-scorer. In a 6:11 span of the second period of Game 3, Carter scored the tying goal off Pearsons pass before setting up the go-ahead score by Toffoli, who has a goal in every game of the conference finals. "They have a lot of chemistry from playing together" in the minors, Carter said. "They use their speed and their skill to create opportunities, and they kind of drag me along with them, so its fun." Toffoli and Pearson still hadnt cracked Los Angeles lineup in 2012 when the eighth-seeded Kings won the title. Toffoli became a regular for last seasons run to the conference finals, while Pearson made his NHL debut in a playoff game last spring. Theyve both become key components of the Kings four-line offensive attack. Slava Voynov also scored an early power-play goal as the Kings moved halfway to their second Stanley Cup final in three years. Captain Jonathan Toews scored twice in the first period for the Blackhawks, but they didnt score again until Patrick Sharps goal with 5 seconds left. Corey Crawford stopped 28 shots for the Blackhawks, who have lost the first road game in 10 consecutive playoff series since 2010. "Once they got the lead, they seemed to get the momentum, and we couldnt quite find our way back into the game," Toews said. "Its up to us to play betteer with those leads.dddddddddddd" Three days after the Kings evened the series by scoring six consecutive goals in the final 22 minutes of Game 2, Los Angeles didnt relax and rely on its NHL-best defence. Neither team played conservatively despite the stakes, instead trading tantalizing scoring chances for the first two periods. The Kings kept pushing for goals even while leading in the third, generating 18 shots and keeping the talented Blackhawks stuck in their own end for long stretches. "We all want to win in here, and Toews is obviously our captain and leader," Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith said. "He definitely led the way tonight, but we need everybody if we are going to beat this team and try to win one here. Toews came out and led the way. Its up to the rest of us to follow that." The Blackhawks beat Los Angeles in five games in the conference finals last season, but the rematch hasnt been nearly as smooth for Chicago. Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell havent scored a goal in the conference finals, while Sharps last-gasp goal was his first of the series. The Blackhawks had their usual hundreds of red-clad fans in an otherwise black-and-white Staples Center crowd, and Toews put Chicago ahead just 5:26 into Game 3 with a spectacular short-handed goal, stealing the puck from Justin Williams and beating Quick between the legs. After Voynov tied it, Toews connected again later in the period on a rebound. The Kings evened it in the second period when Pearson corralled a puck that hit a referee behind the net and fed it to Carter in front for his eighth goal. Carter then chipped the puck ahead to Toffoli shortly after a Chicago power play ended. Toffoli broke in on Crawford, who lifted his left pad for only an instant -- right when Toffoli pushed the puck under him. The Kings kept up the pressure in the third period, and Doughty scored just his second goal of the post-season shortly after a power play expired in the third period. NOTES: F Andrew Shaw returned to Chicagos lineup after a seven-game injury absence. He took the lineup spot of Peter Regin, who had played the last four games. ... Toews had his first multigoal performance in 63 playoff games since May 7, 2010, when he had a hat trick against Vancouver. ... Guitarist Slash played the national anthem. Wayne Gretzky, Dick Butkus, David Beckham, Eric Stonestreet, Josh Duhamel, Taylor Kitsch and former Kings forward Dustin Penner attended the game. ' ' '