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Troy Murray Q&A: Desperate Wild wanted it more

Q. What’s the one thing you took away from Game 3?

A. You have to be prepared to play. It’s not an easy series and what Minnesota did in that last game was they played harder, they wanted it more and they had way more desperation in their game then what the Blackhawks showed and the results indicated that.

Q. It’s been proven that this Hawks team can get outhit in games and still win, but do they need to get a little more physical Tuesday?

A. I think they have to react better to the physicality of Minnesota. In some ways — I wouldn’t say surprised, but maybe underestimated — the way that the Wild could and did play a physical game.

You look at games earlier this year; St Louis played very physical and you knew that was a type of game that you had to be prepared to play. That’s the mentality of this team, not to get frustrated by what Minnesota is going to do again.

You’ve basically given them the blueprint to success unless you respond in the right way.

Q. What does a win like that do for a Wild team that was a bit on the ropes?

A. It’s huge.

I don’t think you should be fooled by being in a position where you were in overtime because without the play of Corey Crawford, who was phenomenal, you’re not going into overtime.

The Blackhawks do have the ability to play from behind late in the game, but the way the game was dictated is something that they need to respond better to.

If you’re the Wild, you kind of just went into the locker room afterward and said ‘Well, we know exactly what we need to do to be successful against the Chicago Blackhawks.’

Instead of being down 3-0 and disheartened, they now know they can beat the Blackhawks playing the type of game they did on Sunday.

Q. Is it a concern that the Hawks’ top line hasn’t produced much yet?

A. I don’t have to be concerned; I know those guys are aware of it, that they need to be better. That’s the bottom line.

Obviously what they brought to game three wasn’t good enough. They’re aware of the points in this series and they need to be better. It’s just the nature of the business — you’re top players have to be better.

I’m not saying they haven’t been good, but they have to be better ... and so does everyone else.

ŸTroy Murray is in his 13th year as a member of the Blackhawks broadcast team and his eighth year as the color analyst for the team’s radio broadcasts. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20-goal scorer and a veteran of 15 years in the NHL, playing in 915 career games.

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