Rozner: Focus in goal as Blackhawks meet Wild

It's true that the Blackhawks have taken out the Minnesota Wild in the postseason the last two years.

But this is not your father's Minnesota hockey team.

"I feel like they're getting better and better in a lot of ways every year," said Hawks captain Jonathan Toews. "It's going to be the toughest test we've seen in a long time, so it's up to us. We know there's another level we need to get to."

The common denominator the last two years was the Wild goaltending, which was less than mediocre last year under Ilya Bryzgalov, when the Hawks needed six games to take out the Wild.

It was downright comical in 2013, when the Hawks needed only five games.

Starter Niklas Backstrom limped off the ice during warm-ups after lunging for a shot and failing to get back on his feet without assistance 20 minutes before Game 1.

Backup Josh Harding, battling multiple sclerosis on and off the ice for months, had to step in. By Game 4, the Hawks were facing third-string goalie Darcy Kuemper.

In the deciding Game 5, Harding could barely stand up pregame and had to be replaced again by Kuemper.

But now three years into the 13-year, $98-million contracts given to free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, this is a much better Minnesota team that was probably the most feared of any sleeper entering the postseason.

And this will be no simple task for the Hawks.

"These guys are Cup contenders every year," Parise said of the Hawks. "For us to want to get in that conversation with them, we've got to beat them."

Minnesota was 18-19-5 and head coach Mike Yeo was in deep trouble in January when the Wild acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk - a move that changed their season and made them a popular pick to reach the Stanley Cup Final entering the playoffs.

The Wild finished 28-9-3 and soared into the postseason carried by a red-hot goalie, and they took out the Blues in six games.

At the trade deadline, Minnesota also added depth in Sean Bergenheim and Jordan Leopold, and a wild card in Chris Stewart.

Their defense playing with a lead was brilliant against St. Louis, with defensive pairs Suter and Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon and Leopold and Matt Dumba, all of whom concentrate on defense first but will join the play when given the opportunity.

The Wild boasts two assistant coaches who were former NHL defensemen in Rick Wilson and Darryl Sydor.

Wilson won a Stanley Cup as associate coach of the Dallas Stars in 1999, and Sydor won two Cups as a player, in Dallas when Wilson was his position coach, and with Tampa in 2004. Nearly half Sydor's 507 points as a player came on the power play during his 18-year career.

The man-advantage was hardly that during the regular season (27th), but the Wild converted a postseason-best 33 percent against St. Louis.

Minnesota is also not intimidated away from home, where the Wild won twice in three games in St. Louis and tied an NHL record with 12 straight road wins from mid-February until the season finale in St. Louis.

The top line of Parise, Jason Pominville and Mikael Granlund produced 17 points in the series with the Blues, but their secondary scoring was rather limited.

"I think we can get some more offensive-zone time," Parise said. "But we were able to get some goals for our team and that's what we're supposed to do."

The key, of course, is Dubnyk, who had one bad game against St. Louis, giving up 6 goals on 17 shots in a 6-1 loss in Game 4, which tied the series at 2-2.

It was the worst game for Dubnyk since he arrived in Minnesota, but he bounced back by stopping 66 of 68 shots in Games 5 and 6, and the Wild put away St. Louis.

The third-string and sometimes fourth-string goalie for Montreal a year ago this time, Dubnyk didn't even stick around with the team for the playoffs. Now, he's a Vezina Trophy finalist.

"I was thinking about it over the last couple days," Dubnyk said after Minnesota eliminated St. Louis. "It just feels right. It feels right for our group to be where we are and to continue to move forward.

"That's why it's easy to go out and play and feel like we're going to win because we've done it all year. Hopefully we can continue doing that."

With the Hawks struggling in net and on defense in the first round, and the Wild performing so well in those areas, it's certain to be the focus as the two teams meet for the third straight spring.

Whether the result changes will undoubtedly be decided in net.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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