The Blackhawks looked like they would run away with Game 1, but instead had to hang on for a 4-3 Game 1 victory. Teuvo Teravainen’s first career playoff goal proved to be a game-winner.
The fans were just getting settled back into their seat after a rousing anthem when the 
Blackhawks took 1-0 lead. Marian Hossa fed a puck at center ice to Brandon Saad who raced into the Wild zone and scored 75 second into the contest.
Chicago doubled their lead when Brad Richards made Marco Scandella a turnstile at the Minnesota blue line. After the nifty move, Richards fed the puck to Patrick Kane who buried it at the 13:11 mark. Just over two minutes later, Marcus Kruger lifted a backhand shot into the net pushing the game to 3-0.
Vezina Trophy Finalist Devin Dubnyk was may have had some sunburn from the red lamp being lit three times on only seven shots in the early going. Despite the tough beginning his coach remained confident in him.
“He wasn’t at fault on those plays and that’s why I didn’t pull him,” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. “I didn’t think we were pressuring as hard as we normally do especially on the forechecks.”
As much as Chicago dominated the first period, the Wild did the same for 19 minutes of the middle frame. Jason Zucker was left all alone in the slot and buried his second goal of the playoffs at the 1:21 mark.
The Wild came into the series with the best playoff power play and continued the trend. Zach Parise took a centering pass from Thomas Vanek and brought Minnesota within one.
The comeback continued at 9:30 of the second period as Mikael Granlund took advantage of Chicago turnover near the net. After Duncan Keith made an ill-advised pass in front of his net, Granlund found room over Corey Crawford’s left shoulder and lit the lamp.
All eyes went to the Chicago bench to see if a goalie change would be made. Instead, Joel Quenneville called a timeout and chastised his team’s performance.
Slowly, Chicago started to get their act together late in the period. Minnesota advanced a pass into the neutral zone with a hand pass. Zach Parise had a chance to play it and take whistle forcing a face-off. Instead, he allowed Nick Hjalmarsson slipped a pass to Teravainen who simply dumped it into the zone. After a few passes, Teravainen shot the puck from the boards. Dubnyk missed the puck with his glove and saw it flutter past him, giving Chicago back the lead.
The third period was much tighter than the first two. Chicago clamped down defensively, giving Minnesota few looks at the net. The Wild had some prime opportunities to tie the game as they were awarded two power plays. The Chicago penalty kill has been much maligned this post season, but stood tall down the stretch.
Joel Quenneville liked his team’s effort while a man down. “Very big because the first goal was innocent. When they’re on those power plays they had some decent looks, but I think we did a good job denying them access.”
Chicago moved to a perfect 4-0 on home ice in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The teams return to the United Center ice on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. Central Time.
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