Blackhawks hold off late Wild surge, then finish sweep with 4-3 win
ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was a huge mountain to climb.
Think Mt. Everest huge. Or K2 huge. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine thousand feet.
By digging an 0-3 series hole, that's the hockey equivalent of what the Minnesota Wild was facing in the second round of the NHL playoffs against the Blackhawks.
But the Hawks took a 4-1 lead late in the third period, then watched the Wild score twice in the closing seconds before running out of time.
The Wild certainly thought a comeback was possible.
"We're more than capable of stringing some games together," goalie Devan Dubnyk said before Thursday's Game 4 at the Xcel Energy Center.
But the chances of that happening against the Hawks were pretty remote and appeared even more unlikely with the Wild trailing the Hawks 2-1 after two periods of Thursday's game.
Brent Seabrook gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead 10:23 into the first period, Andrew Shaw made it 2-0 early in the second and Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 26 shots through 40 minutes. It was Seabrook's third goal and fifth point of the postseason and Shaw's first goal of the playoffs.
Patrick Kane extended his playoff points streak to seven games (5 goals, 4 assists) with an assist on Shaw's power-play goal.
There was some bad news for the Hawks as they lost defenseman Michal Rozsival in the second period to an apparent ankle injury. He lost his balance, came down awkwardly and was unable to put any pressure on it while being helped off the ice by teammates and into the locker room by trainers.
If he's out for an extended period of time, it likely means either David Rundblad or Kyle Cumiskey will be forced into action and 40-year-old Kimmo Timonen's minutes may increase significantly.
The Hawks have yet to trail in the series and held Minnesota to 1 goal in a span of over 177 minutes before Erik Haula scored with 13:18 left in the second period to cut the Hawks' lead to 2-1.
Minnesota was trying to avoid an embarrassing sweep, a word coach Mike Yeo didn't even want to hear.
"We're too good of a team and we've got too much pride in here to have that happen," said Dubnyk, who stopped 16 of 18 shots after two periods. "At the same time, it's not what we're thinking about. You don't go into a game trying not to lose."
Marian Hossa knew the Hawks would be facing a determined team in Game 4.
"They're going to bring everything they have," Hossa said. "They have nothing to lose, basically. We played that way against Detroit when we were down 3-1 (in 2013) when we were ready for everything. I'm sure they're going to be ready for everything tonight. We want to match that."
The Hawks did and then some. The first few minutes saw the Wild playing more physical hockey than at any other time in the series. They generated precious few opportunities, though.
On Seabrook's goal, Bryan Bickell and Johnny Oduya fed Seabrook, who unleashed a shot from about 45 feet out. The puck deflected off of Marco Scandella and past Dubnyk.
Shaw scored on a mad scramble in front of the net with Nino Niederreiter off for hooking.
If the Hawks win, they will play the winner of the Anaheim-Calgary series in the Western Conference finals, the fifth time in seven seasons they would have advanced that far. Last year, they were eliminated by the eventual-champion Kings in a heartbreaking Game 7 overtime loss at the United Center.
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3 stars of the game
1. Corey Crawford, Hawks: That's three straight No. 1 stars for Crow, who is well deserving despite allowing 2 late goals. Stopped 34 of 37 shots in Game 4 and 124 of 131 in the series.
2. Marian Hossa, Hawks: His empty-netter proved to be huge to give Hawks a 4-1 lead. Had 4 shots on goal.
3. Patrick Kane, Hawks: Had a goal and an assist in running his points streak to seven games.- John Dietz