Seesaw Game 1 goes Blackhawks' way
So much for needing to be patient.
That has been the theme all week as the Blackhawks prepared to take on the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the playoffs.
Don't push the action. Don't take too many chances. Don't get caught with your pants down.
Or Minnesota will make you pay.
As is often the time in sports, though, it's OK to throw the playbook out the window and reverse course, which is exactly what the Hawks did Friday night as Minnesota seemed to be eternally skating backward in the first period of Game 1 at the United Center.
Brandon Saad, Patrick Kane and Marcus Kruger staked the Hawks to a 3-0 first-period lead, and the Hawks took the opener 4-3. It was anything but easy as Minnesota struck for 3 goals in the first 9:30 of the second period, but rookie Teuvo Teravainen notched his first postseason goal with 59 seconds left in the second as the Hawks recaptured the lead at 4-3 and held on from there.
Game 2 is Sunday at the United Center at 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota has lost seven playoff games at the UC in the last three postseasons. The Wild ended the regular season on a 16-2-2 tear on the road, but whether they'll admit it or not, the team was clearly on its heels from the get-go in Game 1.
Saad put the Hawks up just 75 seconds into the game. After taking a pass from Marian Hossa, Saad chipped it around Ryan Suter, bowled past the all-world defenseman and easily fired the puck past Devan Dubnyk.
Crawford turned away a few solid chances, then Brad Richards - after turning D-man Marco Scandella into a pretzel - put the puck right on Patrick Kane's stick and Kane did the rest, ripping in his third goal of the playoffs.
The Hawks' third goal came just two minutes later when Marcus Kruger beat Dubnyk right in front of the Wild goalie's net. It was just Kruger's second goal in his last 28 playoff games.
The Wild was a completely different team in the second period, erasing that 3-0 hole in just 9:30. Jason Zucker made it 3-1 when he took a pass from Thomas Vanek and beat Crawford from just 10 feet out. Then, with Michal Rozsival off for holding, Zach Parise scored on the power play. Mikael Granlund tied it up just 4:23 after Parise's goal.
After stopping 13 first-period shots, Crawford gave up 3 goals on Minnesota's first 9 in the second period, although they all came from players he could basically smell they were so close.
Teravainen, playing for the first time since Game 2 vs. Nashville, scored when he threw a shot from the sideboards that somehow got past Dubnyk. The Wild goalie stopped just 16 of 20 shots through two periods.
Thirty-six hours before the series began, Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said is getting more and more excited about the team's Cup chances.
"You start the season out with the belief you can accomplish something special," Toews said. "But it seems very far away and kind of removed from the task at hand … I think as you get closer and closer, that belief grows more and more and you realize the opportunity that is kind of taking shape.
"We took one step by beating a good team in Nashville and now we've got another challenge in Minnesota. We've just got to take it one game at a time. But at the same time, get that excitement, that belief in here that we're working towards ultimately where we want to go.
"I think we believe in our team that we've got what it takes to do that."
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3 stars of the game
3 stars:
1 The Hawks' Teuvo Teravainen. Bright lights not too bright for the rookie as he scores game-winner late in second period.
2 The Hawks' Brandon Saad. Scores game's first goal after highlight-reel move around Ryan Suter.
3 The Hawks' Brad Richards. Took a bad third-period penalty, but otherwise had a strong overall game that includes perfect pass to Patrick Kane for Hawks' second goal.
- John Dietz