History continued to repeat itself as the Blackhawks swept away the Wild with a 4-3 
victory on Thursday night. It was the third year Chicago has ended Minnesota’s season.
Minnesota came into the game needing to show desperation, but didn’t show it until the game’s after three minutes. Marian Hossa scored an empty net shorthanded goal 16:53 into the third period, giving Chicago a 4-1 lead.
Instead of coasting to the victory, the Blackhawks had to hang on. The Wild answered on the same man-advantage when Jason Pominville’s slap shot lit the lamp at 17:42. The game got super tight less than a minute later as Nino Niederreiter scored on a shot from an impossible angle. His fourth goal of the playoffs gave the Xcel Energy Center life as the Wild were down 4-3.
Brandon Saad led Johnathan Toews down the ice with on a two-on-one with an open net in front of them. Toews took the pass and rang the puck off the post. The visitors made a terrible line change and got called for a too-many-men on the ice penalty.
The Wild controlled the puck in the final minute, but could not beat find the equalizer. Joel Quenneville was relieved the game ended.
”Turns out Hossa scored a big goal,” said Quenneville It was a little haywire at the end but for the most part we did a lot of solid things.”
Unlike Game 3, the Wild didn’t come out with the high energy and desperation that was needed from the start. Chicago matched the home team shot for shot and draw for draw. Brent Seabrook score the opening goal. Seabrook’s shot grazed off Marco Scandella’s shin pad, and rose above the left shoulder of Devin Dubynk.
Many thought that Minnesota, being down a goal, would come out flying to start the second period. Once again, those prediction proved to be wrong. The Blackhawks made it 2-0 on the power play when Andrew Shaw poked home a loose puck at the 3:28.
Down a pair of goals finally seemed to wake the Wild up. The desperate team poured in to the tune of 18 second-period shots. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was near perfect in the middle frame. The lone blemish came at 6:41 when Erik Haula put home a rebound. It’s the first time this series Haula has been in the lineup.
Patrick Kane moved the Chicago lead back to two goals with his seventh goal 13:20 into the third period. At the time, it looked like that would be the back breaking goal against the Wild. Kane scored a goal every game this series.
Chicago did suffer a setback despite the win. Defenseman Michal Rosival left the game after suffering a gruesome left ankle injury. Quenneville didn’t seem confident his defenseman will heal quickly.
“Tough loss, it doesn’t look good,” said Quenneville.
Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville talks about the need for his team to close the book on Game One and get right back at it on Saturday afternoon in Game Two.
The Blackhawks continued to shine when leading after 40 minutes of play. The win moved them to a perfect 30-0-0 when entering the third period with a lead.
Chicago will head home and enjoy some rest. The Hawks will sit back and wait to see if they will play Anaheim or Calgary in the Western Conference Finals. This is the fifth time in seven seasons they have reached this stage of the playoffs.
Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_PHN and you can always reach him at adam.minnick@prohockeynews.com
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