He did not appear in provincial court Thursday and was represented by his lawyer. Police in Manitoba charged Richards last month.

Richards, of Kenora, Ontario, was arrested and released June 17 after Emerson police were notified that a controlled substance had been intercepted by Canadian border authorities.

Richards became a free agent after the Los Angeles Kings terminated his contract this summer, citing breach of contract. The NHL Players’ Association filed a grievance on Richards’ behalf.

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Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews each had a goal and an assist to help the Blackhawks beat the Kings 3-2, extending their season-opening points streak to 15 games.

Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks (12-0-3), who matched the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers for the second-longest season-opening points streak in NHL history. Chicago is one away from the tying the league record set by Anaheim in 2006-07 and will try to match the mark on Tuesday when it hosts Vancouver.

Mike Richards scored two power-play goals in the third period to pull the Kings within one after Chicago outplayed the Stanley Cup champions in the opening 40 minutes and built a 3-0 lead.

But the Blackhawks and goalie Ray Emery hung on.

“The guys wanted to get a good start, a good jump on L.A.,” Seabrook said. “Ray made the big saves when he needed to.”

The Blackhawks’ start to the season is beginning to reach historical proportions in more way than one.

Anaheim won the Stanley Cup in 2007 after its record-setting points start. The 1984-85 Oilers and Montreal, which opened with 14 straight in 1943-44, also won the Cup in those seasons.

Toews, Chicago’s captain, says the Blackhawks aren’t getting ahead of themselves, however.

“We’re 15 games into the season,” Toews said. “What’s important to us is getting home ice advantage, making the playoffs. Those are our goals. Once you get there, the real season starts.

“When you get to that point, no one really cares or remembers those streaks at the start of the season.”

Emery, Chicago’s backup, made 25 saves. He lost a bid for his first shutout in more than three years when Richards connected 56 seconds into the third period. Emery made back-to-back starts for the first time this season with Corey Crawford missing his second game because of an undisclosed upper-body injury.

And things got a little frantic for Chicago at the end after Richards notched his second goal — just his fourth this season — with 7:10 left. The Blackhawks spent the final 1:04 short-handed after Johnny Oduya was sent off for slashing, and Jonathan Quick was pulled for an extra attacker during that span.

“I thought we had a great first 40 minutes and they got some momentum off their power-play goal early in the third,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “They had a great third period. We had 40, they had a great 20, and the clock ran out, which was nice.”

Not so for Los Angeles (5-6-2), which has struggled on offense and with injuries. The only bright spot for the Kings was their power play, which came in ranked 27th in the NHL before connecting twice in a game for only the second time this season.

“We probably didn’t play well enough to win this game,” Richards said. “The slow start kind of cost us. We gave them a lot in the first period with penalties and some turnovers and they scored some goals, which put us behind the eight-ball pretty quick.”

Sharp, who led Chicago with 33 goals last season, ended a 10-game drought without a score.

The Blackhawks outshot Los Angeles 37-27 and defeated the Kings for the second time this season to end Los Angeles’ two-game winning streak. Chicago won 5-2 in the teams’ season opener at Staples Center.

Quick started in goal and finished with 34 saves for the Kings after backup Jonathan Bernier was in net in Los Angeles’ previous two games.

Chicago was a step faster than the Kings in the first period and held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Seabrook opened the scoring 6:29 in to cap a Chicago flurry in the Kings’ zone, and after Quick had made several in-close saves.

Seabrook pinched down to the low edge of the left circle and took a pinpoint feed from Duncan Keith, who threaded a cross-ice pass from the top of the right circle. Seabrook then slid a shot into an open net before Quick could dive across.

Toews’ power-play goal 4 minutes later made it 2-0. Stationed in the slot, Toews first tipped Keith’s feed off the right post, but buried the loose puck before Quick could cover it.

Sharp exploited a Kings coverage breakdown and increased Chicago’s lead to 3-0 just 56 seconds into the second period. Quick dropped to the ice to block Toews’ stuff-in attempt at the side of the net, but the puck popped into the slot. Sharp was wide open and fired high into the net before Quick could recover.

The Blackhawks were in control for most of the second period and outshot Los Angeles 21-10. But Emery had to make several tough saves late in the period — including in-close stops on Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter — to keep the Kings off the scoreboard.

Richards cut it to 3-1 early in the third. With Brown providing a screen at the edge of the crease, Richards’ high shot from the top of the slot sailed past Emery. Richards’ second power-play goal trimmed it to 3-2 with 7:10 left. This time, he beat Emery from the top of the left circle with Brown screening.

Game notes

Before the game, Quenneville said Crawford was “progressing” and is day-to-day. When asked if Crawford’s condition might be long-term, Quenneville replied, “I don’t foresee that yet.” Crawford — who has a 7-0-3 record, 1.65 goals-against average and .935 save percentage — has not skated since sustaining his injury, apparently in a 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim last Tuesday.

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The incident occurred at 11:29 of the second period and set off a rash of penalties. Not long after, Dubinsky and Los Angeles forward Mike Richards fought. All told, 37 minutes in penalties were handed out, and Dubinsky was assessed a major penalty for the original incident as well as a game misconduct.

The fine money will be sent to the NHL players’ emergency assistance fund.
Dubinsky was acquired over the summer from the New York Rangers in the trade for forward Rick Nash. He has four points this season.

The Blue Jackets also announced Wednesday that they have assigned center Ryan Johansen to their American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield, Mass.

Johansen, 20, has two assists in 10 games with the Blue Jackets this season. He had 14 goals and 13 assists in 34 games with Springfield before the belated start of the NHL season.

He won eight of nine faceoffs in more than 16 minutes on the ice Tuesday night.

Johansen was Columbus’ first pick, fourth overall, in the 2010 NHL draft.

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Los Angeles at Colorado
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), Altitude (Colorado)

Los Angeles allowed four goals in the first 22 minutes of the 5-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Top center Anze Kopitar missed the opener with a knee injury, but said he’ll play Tuesday. The Kings didn’t give up more than three goals in a game during their Cup run. Defenseman Rob Scuderi said the Kings were physically ready, but made mental mistakes. Los Angeles should turn it around on defense, but must be better than it was on offense during the 2011-12 regular season (29th). Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Dustin Brown were all minus-3 against Chicago. Forward Kyle Clifford had seven hits in 8:52 of playing time in the opener.

Despite ending 2011-12 by hoisting the Cup, the Kings ranked near the bottom of the NHL with 194 goals and averaged 2.9 while going 16-4-0 in the playoffs. Los Angeles managed 21 shots and went 0 for 5 on the power play in the opener.

Colorado scored only 17 goals in its last 10 games last season. The Avalanche hope free-agent acquisition PA Parenteau will help improve the offense, but others will have to step up with O’Reilly still in Russia. Landeskog returns after scoring a team-high 22 goals and leading Avalanche in plus-minus (plus-20). Paul Stastny, David Jones, Milan Hejduk, Steve Downie and Duchene will all be expected to contribute. Defenseman Erik Johnson, 24, could be ready to raise his game to a new level. The Avalanche had 19 penalty minutes against the Wild, allowing two power-play goals.

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