Blackhawks' Rx for success
This was supposed to be the year the Minnesota Wild got over the hump and sent the Blackhawks packing.
The Wild players and coaches certainly thought so as they prepared to play coach Joel Quenneville's team for a third straight season.
But in hindsight, Wild coach Mike Yeo said that kind of thinking may have actually been his team's downfall - and a big reason the Hawks completed a four-game sweep Thursday.
"All the talk, this is our year, things are gonna be different, everything else," Yeo said, "instead of just staying with the process a little bit more. That led to a lot of the frustration, a lot of the getting away from our game a little bit."
Said Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk: "Feel sick. Doesn't feel right. To be with the group that we have, to finish it that way, it just doesn't feel right."
How did the Hawks make Minnesota look and feel so sick? Let's take a look at the four main reasons:
1. Crow about it:
Whether it was a slump or he just needed a wake-up call, Corey Crawford put the nightmare that was the Nashville series firmly in his rear-view mirror and returned to being the $6 million man the Hawks expect him to be. Crawford stopped 124 of 131 shots in the series for a .947 save percentage - and over one stretch gave up just 1 goal in more than 177 minutes.
But those are just numbers. What Hawks fans should be excited about is how Crawford looked, defending his net perhaps as well as he ever has in his NHL career.
If he keeps it up, it will be nearly impossible to stop the Hawks from achieving their ultimate dream.
2. Kane able again:
How do you stop Patrick Kane? That's a good question and one Minnesota was never able to answer. He scored 5 goals in the series, including huge scores in Game 2 to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead with 20 seconds left in the second period and the only goal by either team in Game 3. He also scored what turned out to be a big goal in the clincher Thursday, giving the Hawks a 3-1 lead 6:40 into the third period by beating Dubnyk five-hole.
Said Dubnyk before Game 4: "He's got a ton of patience and a lot of vision when he has the puck, so you know he's never going to rush anything and he's never going to feel rushed. When you're able to do that you're able to execute."
3. Dubious Dubnyk:
Hot goalies have a funny way of turning ice cold when the face the Blackhawks, and Devan Dubnyk was no exception. Minnesota's netminder was a steady force all season and he gave up only 13 goals in six games in the Wild's first-round series win over the Blues (10 of which came in two games).
But he had no answer for the Hawks. Dubnyk's save percentage was .901 and many of the goals he allowed were either from bad angles (Teuvo Teravainen's in Game 2) or ones he had good looks at but simply couldn't find a way to save.
Of course, it didn't help that teammates like Ryan Suter turned pucks over at the worst times.
"Give them a little credit, too," said the Wild's Jason Pominville. "They're a team that's offensively skilled and makes you pay when you make a mistake."
4. Dynamite defense:
Give plenty of credit to Corey Crawford. But just as important was how much the Hawks' team defense played in the series' final three games.
Any time Minnesota came over the blue line, two or three Hawks were forming a protective cocoon around Crawford, poking the puck away, blocking shots and doing everything Niklas Hjalmarsson begged his teammates to do after a rough Game 1.
As Patrick Sharp said in the postgame locker room, it's all starting to "come together at the right time.
"We're playing great hockey," Sharp continued. "It was disappointing being so close to the Final and not being able to (get there). We know how hard it is to get the conference finals, so we're going to celebrate that fact and be ready to play our best round."
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