The Kings dominated Phoenix in Game 2 on Tuesday, winning 4-0 in the desert. Jeff Carter, the big addition at the trade deadline, scored three goals and Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots as Los Angeles took a commanding series lead.

Dwight King scored his third goal in two games, Quick tied Felix Potvin’s team record with his third career playoff shutout, and Carter finished off the Kings’ first playoff hat trick since Wayne Gretzky in 1993 in the third period.

King gave the Kings a 1-0 lead on a deflection off a point shot from defenseman Drew Doughty about 13 minutes into the game, and that held up through the first period. The Coyotes came out with much more intensity in the second, but the Kings killed that momentum when Dustin Penner did some nice work down low to get the puck to Carter, who scored 4:47 into the period for a 2-0 lead. After that goal, you could almost hear the puck drop inside Jobing.com Arena.

Quick has allowed 16 goals in 11 playoff games and stopped 309 of 325 shots for a sizzling .951 save percentage. He has allowed more than two goals in a game only once in the playoffs, a Game 4 loss against the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round, L.A.’s only playoff defeat of 2012.

Los Angeles has won seven straight overall, tied an NHL record by opening the playoffs 7-0 on the road, and matched another record by winning nine straight road playoff games over two seasons. The New York Islanders won a pair of Stanley Cup titles while winning nine straight road games from 1982-83, and the Kings are starting to look like a team that could go on a Cup run of its own.

The Kings have not trailed in the playoffs since midway through first period of Game 1 against the St. Louis Blues. L.A. has scored first in eight of 11 playoff games and won the other three. The Kings have killed 28 straight penalties and 44 of 47 overall in the playoffs.

Phoenix also will be without a key player tonight as forward Martin Hanzal was suspended for one game for boarding Kings forward Dustin Brown during Game 2. The incident occurred at 11:01 of the third period. Hanzal was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.

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Pujols went 0-for-5 on Monday to see his average drop to an unthinkable .197. Then the Hatcher move was made Tuesday. Pujols had three hits and two RBIs that night in a 4-0 win over Oakland. And then on Wednesday, the future Hall of Famer welcomed new hitting coach Jim Eppard to town with a three-run homer,  just Pujols’ second of the season and his first this month. The Halos won 7-2.

During Hatcher’s watch, the Angels set franchise records in 2009 for average, hits, home runs, runs scored, RBIs and average with runners in scoring position — and won a World Series title in 2002. But GM Jerry DiPoto felt the time was appropriate to make the change.

“We were not in an offensive funk because of Mickey,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “Mickey’s a great teacher and a great hitting coach, and we’ve had a lot of continuity here. But we all respect what the general manager’s office is about. Jerry’s position is to try to make changes that he believes is going to help us become better, and we have to respect that.”

It should be an easy transition for Eppard, who nurtured current Angels Howie Kendrick, Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo, Erick Aybar, Peter Bourjos and Bobby Wilson as the hitting coach at Triple-A Salt Lake.

Trailing 2-1 on Wednesday, the Angels grabbed a 4-2 lead with one swing by Pujols, who drove an 0-1 pitch over the center-field fence after Mike Trout and Albert Callaspo opened the inning with singles. It was the 447th career homer for Pujols, the three-time NL MVP who ended the longest regular-season drought of his career after 33 games and 139 at-bats in the finale of the Angels’ previous homestand.

“I just got a good pitch to hit,” said Pujols, who is batting just .213 after going 1-for-4 with a strikeout. “I wanted to make sure it was up and try to hit something up to try and stay away from the double play.”

There have been positives from Pujols lately. He got those three infield hits in Tuesday’s win over the A’s, has driven in 12 runs in his last 10 games — after having just five RBIs through the first 27 — and has hit a few balls on the nose recently.

L.A. turns to lefty C.J. Wilson today against Chicago lefty Chris Sale.

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Bosh was hurt late in the first half of Game 1 on Sunday, on a play where he drove for a dunk and got fouled. He was in immediate pain, checked out of the game when the pain became too unbearable one possession later, and was diagnosed with the muscle strain. An MRI on Monday confirmed that diagnosis and he’s likely out for the rest of this series at a minimum.

Bosh was hugely missed in Miami’s 78-75 Game 2 loss. LeBron James scored 28 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade finished with 24 but Miami shot only 35 percent, got outrebounded 50-40 and besides James and Wade, no other Heat player scored more than five points. It was the first time in Heat franchise history that only two players scored more than five points in a game, regular-season or playoffs. It was just the fourth time in the shot clock era in that two or fewer players on any NBA team scored six-plus points in a playoff game. All four teams lost the game.

In addition, both LeBron and Wade blew chances to tie or win the game late. James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one, and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining. And on Miami’s final possession with a chance to tie, Wade passed up a shot and instead dished off to Mario Chalmers, who missed a 3-pointer. How is it that LeBron and Wade are two of the five best players in the world and neither takes that shot? The Heat were 1-for-16 from long range in Game 2.

LeBron went 4-for-8 from the free throw in the 4th quarter, including those two key misses. He is now shooting just 59 percent from the free throw line this season in the final minute of one-possession games. The rest of his team is a combined 13-for-15. LeBron’s last shot attempt came with 3:35 remaining in the fourth quarter (a missed 3-pointer).

The 75 points scored by the Heat are tied for second fewest by a team in which the MVP played on. All five teams that scored 75 or fewer points lost the game.

David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Indiana. George Hill had 15 points, Danny Granger scored 11 and Paul George added 10 for the Pacers, who made only 38 percent of its shots. The Pacers had been 2-9 this season when shooting that poorly. Indiana outscored the Heat 16-10 in transition during Game 2. The Heat have lost both times this postseason when they were outscored in transition. Miami shot a postseason-low 22.2 percent (2-9) in transition, including 0-for-3 by Wade.

Indiana and Miami split two meetings in Indianapolis this season, ironically by the same 105-90 score.

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What else? The 15-game run is the longest winning streak sustained in the NBA playoffs since the 2004 Spurs carried 17 straight wins into the second round that season. Oh, and the Spurs are 27-2 at home against the Clippers since Tim Duncan arrived in San Antonio. L.A. did end an 18-game losing streak at San Antonio that spanned  decade back in March, but the Spurs didn’t have an injured Tony Parker in that game. Thus it’s no surprise that L.A. is an 11-point underdog on WagerWeb.com’s NBA odds for Game 2.

The Spurs took Game 1 on Tuesday 108-92 – those 108 points were right on the average that San Antonio averaged in three games during the regular season vs. the Clippers. Tim Duncan led the way in Game 1 with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili had 22 points. The only negative from the opener was that Tony Parker had just seven points on 1-for-9 shooting, although he did have 11 assists.

Duncan, Parker and Ginobili played 17 minutes together in Game 1. The Spurs outscored the Clippers by 21 points and held them to 22.6 percent (7-31) shooting during those 17 minutes. San Antonio outrebounded the Clippers 47-34, had 10 more assists and L.A. and was 13-for-25 from long range, tying the franchise record for makes.

The Clippers are completely banged up with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Caron Butler and Mo Williams all playing through injuries that probably would see them sitting out games if this were the regular season. Only Butler was good in Game 1, as he had 15 points. Paul, who ended the first round with an aching hip, scored just six points and didn’t make a single basket in the second half; he shot 3-for-13 overall. Griffin scored a quiet 15 points in 28 minutes – only five after halftime – playing on a sprained left knee he called maybe 80 percent. The All-Star said he became tired quicker than usual, and also turned his left ankle early in the game. Williams was just 1-for-3 off the bench. The lone silver lining for the Clippers was the play of backup guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored a career-high 23 points, and had five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

On the positive side, L.A. did hold a lead in the second quarter, and even after the Spurs took a 19-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Clippers stormed back and were within eight points with less than eight minutes left in the game. San Antonio finished the game on an 18-10 run to comfortably pull away as Paul and Griffin finished the game on the bench. The Clippers have come back from double-digit deficits 15 times this season, which is the most in the league.

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Neither team was expected to be here. Bayern, which won Group A, upset Spanish La Liga champion Real Madrid on the two-game semifinals, advancing on penalty kicks after the teams tied at 3-3 in goals aggregate. Bayern finished second to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga this year and was just beaten by that club 5-2 in the German Cup final on May 12.

Arjen Robben, one of Bayern’s star wingers, says defeats against Dortmund have only served to motivate the side even more than usual ahead of the “match of our lives.”

Mario Gomez is the best player on Bayern and is second among all players in this year’s Champions League scoring with 12 goals. Being at home should be a huge advantage as Bayern has won all seven of their European matches there this season, including a 2-0 group-stage victory against Premier League champions Manchester City.

Chelsea, meanwhile, upset the other Spanish power and defending Champions League winner Barcelona in the semis on aggregate. Chelsea did win the FA Cup early in May but finished a distant sixth in the EPL standings. Didier Drogba headlines Chelsea’s attack with five Champions League goals.

Bayern Munich is in its ninth Champions League final overall and first since losing in 2009 to Internazionale. Bayern has four titles to its credit. Chelsea has reached the final just once, losing to Manchester United four years ago.

It’s rare to approach a game of the magnitude of Saturday’s Champions League final with so many massive questions about the lineups of both sides.

Four Chelsea players — defenders John Terry (the captain) and Branislav Ivanovic, and midfielders Ramires and Raul Meireles — will be suspended for the final. But Chelsea will welcome back center-backs David Luiz and Gary Cahill, who both trained this week for the first time following respective hamstring injuries.

Bayern Munich will be without three suspended players: defensive midfielder Luiz Gustavo, along with defenders Holger Badstuber and David Alaba.

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has revealed he had the Champions League final in mind when he paired Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres in Chelsea’s win over Blackburn this past weekend. Drogba and Torres both came off the bench in the Blues’ last Premier League game of the season, linking up for the final 21 minutes of the 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Di Matteo has never started the strikers in tandem since taking charge just over two months ago but confirmed he had been looking at potential options for this weekend’s showdown with Bayern Munich. The general feeling that they do not work as a duo, with neither having found the net in five starts together or on the 19 other occasions they have been on the pitch at the same time.

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Despite finishing second in the Derby, Bodemeister was installed as the 8-5 WagerWeb.com favorite for Saturday’s race and will break from Post 7. The colt, trained by Bob Baffert, set the pace at Churchill Downs before being overtaken in the stretch by I’ll Have Another, who won by 1 1/2 lengths.

I’ll Have Another is the second-favorite in the Preakness at 5-2. He breaks from Post 9 in the field of 11 entered for the Preakness. Four of the top five finishers in the Derby are in the field. Six Derby contestants were entered for the second jewel of the Triple Crown with five newcomers. The field is the smallest since 2007, when Curlin beat Derby winner Street Sense in a nine-horse field.

Should I’ll Have Another win the Preakness, the Kentucky-bred son of Flower Alley would be positioned to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. The Santa Anita champion, undefeated in 2012, suffered a shin injury last September and has raced only three times as a 3-year-old.

Bodemeister, who was sent off the slight 4-1 favorite for the Derby, can give Baffert his sixth Preakness victory and his first since Lookin At Lucky won the race in 2010. Bodemeister set one of the quickest tempos in Kentucky Derby history (:22.32, :45.39, 1:09.80 for the first six furlongs) last Saturday with Mike Smith aboard and led by three lengths in the stretch. But he could not fend off the determined challenge from 15-1 shot I’ll Have Another, who reeled in the leader under little known jockey Mario Gutierrez near the sixteenth pole and drew clear for the triumph.

Bodemeister became only the sixth horse in Derby history to run the opening six furlongs under 1:10, and of those only the second to “hit the board,” or finish in the top three. (Spend a Buck won the 1985 Derby after opening up a six-length advantage in 1:09.60.) I’ll Have Another ran the final quarter-mile in 25.99 seconds. That enabled him to catch and pass a dead-tired Bodemeister, who ran the final quarter-mile in 26.94.

At Pimlico there is only one reason to question Bodemeister, and it has nothing to do with his talent. The colt has crammed his whole five-race career into the span of four months, and the exertions may have taken a toll on him. After the Derby, Baffert said, “I was worried that he might be wiped out and stay in the back of his stall for three days and sulk.” But Baffert believes his colt has bounced back and is ready to run at the level he did in the Derby.

Also entered in the Preakness are Tiger Walk (30-1), Teeth of the Dog (15-1), Pretension (30-1), Zetterholm (20-1), Went the Day Well (6-1), Creative Cause (6-1), Daddy Nose Best (12-1), Optimizer (30-1) and Cozzetti (30-1).

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Once again, Bodemeister enters the race with the best odds of winning, set at 8/5 and will run from post seven. However, as made huge headlines, the three-year-old held the lead for most of the race but failed to finish first, losing to I’ll Have Another.

The Derby winner will run from post position nine and has 5/2 odds of winning; second-best in the field. Everybody is gearing up for the rematch between the two and while logic suggests Bodemeister has the better chance – what with the preferable post spot, stronger body and shorter race length – many still hope we’ll have a chance to see a Triple Crown winner emerge from the Belmont Stakes.

Teeth of the Dog will come out of post two and has a 15/1 shot, which is best among horses that didn’t run two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby. Only two of the last 10 Preakness runs have been won by a horse that didn’t race the Derby.

The horses with the longest odds include Tiger Walk in post one, Pretension in post three,Optimizer in post 10 and Cozzetti in post 11, all with 30/1 chances of winning the Preakness Stakes.

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Chelsea, which eliminated the reigning champions FC Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal, will have to overcome suspensions and injuries as well as the hostile surroundings in order to defeat Bayern Munich against the soccer odds and claim its first-ever European crown after losing the 2008 final to English rivals Manchester United in a penalty shootout.

The Blues are currently listed as +330 underdogs on the UEFA betting lines, and will be missing captain John Terry, fullback Branislav Ivanovic, as well as midfielders Ramires and Raul Meirelesto suspension for Saturday’s final. Forward Florent Malouda is listed as doubtful after suffering an injury in Sunday’s season-ending English Premier League victory over Blackburn Rovers, while defenders Gary Cahill and David Luiz returned to training on Tuesday in hopes of recovering from their respective hamstring injuries in time to bolster the Chelsea roster against Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich, which is favored at -125 odds to win the match, will be gunning for its fifth European title after eliminating Real Madrid in the semifinals. The German side will be absent the suspended trio of Luis Gustavo, Holger Badstuber, and David Alaba, while midfielder Bastian Schweinsteigeris expected to play with a sore ankle.

Mario Gomez (15/4 odds), Arjen Robben (5/1), and Franck Ribery (6/1) are listed on the Champions League player props as the favorites to score the first goal of the match for Bayern Munich, while veteran Didier Drogba (17/2), Fernando Torres (9/1), and Frank Lampard (12/1) are listed as the leading contenders to pay off with the initial strike for Chelsea.

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The two big names that remain in Strikeforce will fight for the Grand Prix championship this Saturday night, and more than just the Grand Prix trophy will be on the line. Josh Barnett will face alternate replacement Daniel Cormier in what promises to be a hard-fought battle, and the Grand Prix winner will also surely get an invite into the UFC and put on the fast-track to a title contender fight. Get your MMA odds for the tilt today.

Barnett has only lost to three men in a 36-fight career and is currently on an eight-fight win streak. If he hopes to find himself in the UFC he needs a win over Cormier to solidify a spot. Oddsmakers at Bovada currently have Barnett handicapped as the -130 favorite. That price is down from the initial -145 line, which looks like a great bargain on one of the best Heavyweights in the history of the sport.

Cormier is an undefeated decorated wrestler with heavy hands and elite athleticism. He may be taking a huge step up in class against Barnett, but if he lands one big shot it could turn the fight in his favor where his grappling skills could be enough to control and wear down his aging opponent.

As the Bovada +100 underdog Cormier could be a good bet if he can take the fight into the later rounds where Barnett should be slowing down. The only way he’ll be able to get there will be to utilize his wrestling skills for the first couple of rounds.

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The Heat rolled to a 95-86 home victory over the Pacers in Game 1 of the series on Sunday, but Indiana turned the tables in Game 2 on Tuesday night with a 78-75 upset win on the NBA odds at Bovada in Miami.

David West scored a team-high 16 points for the Pacers in Tuesday night’s win to go along with 10 rebounds, while George Hill was good for 15 points, and Paul George had 10 points and 11 boards. Danny Granger scored 11 points in the contest.

LeBron James had a game-high 28 points in the losing cause for the Heat on Tuesday, withDwyane Wade adding 24 points, but no one else on the roster managing to score more than five points. Chris Bosh (abdominal injury) remains out indefinitely for Miami.

The Heat have now been tagged with an ATS loss in three of their past four games against the Pacers, going 5-5 ATS in the last 10 meetings between the teams. The UNDER has paid out for totals bettors in four of the last five Heat/Pacers matchups.

Heading into Wednesday’s playoff action the Heat remained the favorite on the NBA futures at Bovada at 3/2 to win the championship this season, and they were also set at 1/3 to win the East. The Pacers had 22/1 odds to win the title, and 9/1 odds to win the East.

Game 3 is set to get underway at 7:00pm ET in Indiana on Thursday, with the teams then getting two days off before meeting again on Sunday afternoon. The series then shifts back to Miami for Game 5 of the set next Tuesday night.

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Ball so hard.