Round Two: Chicago Blackhawks v. Minnesota Wild

[WaukeeBlues]

The Minnesota Wild will hope the third time is the charm against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rivals in the Central Division, this will be the third consecutive year when the Wild and Blackhawks face each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Wild were the first team the Blackhawks dispatched on the way to winning the Stanley Cup in 2013, needing five games to eliminate them in the first round. In 2014, the Wild were fresh off their first series win in more than a decade, ending with a Game 7 overtime victory against the Colorado Avalanche, when the Blackhawks defeated them in OT to wrap up that series in six.

Now, with the Wild coming off an upset of the Central Division champion St. Louis Blues and the Blackhawks eliminating the higher-seeded Nashville Predators, each in six games, they're set to play in the Western Conference Second Round.

The biggest difference for Minnesota this time may be the goaltending. The Wild lost starter Niklas Backstrom in warm-ups prior to Game 1 against the Blackhawks two years ago, forcing Josh Harding into the starting role after he played five regular-season games because of complications resulting from his multiple sclerosis. Last year, Minnesota relied on veteran Ilya Bryzgalov, who's now out of hockey, after rookie Darcy Kuemper sustained an injury in Game 7 against Colorado.

The Wild now have Devan Dubnyk, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, who shut out the Blackhawks on Feb. 3 and allowed one goal on April 7 when Minnesota won the final two games of the season series after Chicago won the first three.

The Blackhawks will turn back to Corey Crawford in Game 1. Crawford was ineffective in the first two games and watched Scott Darling start the final four games against the Predators, but relieved Darling in Game 6 and helped Chicago advance. Crawford had a .948 save percentage in splitting four decisions against the Wild this season.

Wild forward Jason Zucker scored three goals to lead them offensively, and Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane had two goals and eight points.

I hope they both lose somehow. But I got the Hawks in 6

[glen a richter]

Wild in 7, speed continues to kill. Chicago is faster than St. Louis, so the series lasts longer, but that's it.

[Portland Blues]

Chicago in 6.

[ComradeT]

Wild in 7, speed continues to kill. Chicago is faster than St. Louis, so the series lasts longer, but that's it.

Wild doesn't have the speed advantage over Hawks. If anything, I'd give Hawks the edge because not only they are fast but they know how to play in any situation very well. Plus, Dubnyk is still very much a question mark.

Hawks in 7.

[cprice12]

I think the Hawks get past the Wild pretty easily.
The Wild didn't impress me a whole lot in our series. They played very well at times, but we played like ass for half of the series. Had we not completely tanked, we'd have rolled over them.

[cprice12]

Oh...and I think Dubnyk gets lit up in this series.
We made him look a whole lot better than he is actually playing right now.

[Kerfuffle]

The Wild are a fast team. It looked like we were gonna roll over them tonight but we let them back in in the 2nd period. But glad we got that 4th goal and held on.

[Portland Blues]

Poor Wild. We tricked them into thinking they were going to roll through the playoffs.

[dmiles2186]

Guh.

[TSUCookieMonster]

Blues would have been swept in this series the way they played so heartless. Glad it's the Wild and not us. Can't stand the Blackhawks. If they'd have swept STL, we would have been hearing about it all next year.

[WaukeeBlues]

I'd like to think that part of the Wild trouble is that they are coming off the exhilaration of upsetting the #2 seed in the playoffs and are suffering a bit of a letdown.

I'd like to think.

Blackhawks are so damn good. I hate them but they are. They just win in the playoffs. They go out and they win. Since the resurgence of their team and the new faces that came there, they have a culture of success and a culture and EXPECTATION of winning. The Blues need to learn some lessons and I'm not joking.

[Portland Blues]

Ker-spank!

[Kerfuffle]

Too much drama at the end there for me. That was a nail biter.

[Toasted Oates]

I hope every Hawk fan is savoring this. You've got it good. 5 out of the last 7 conference finals. The Blues haven't been to 5 in the history of the franchise.

Thank your lucky stars and appreciate this group.

Oh, and go to hell.

[Krigloch the Furious]

And Minnesota proves just how good they are.
Screw the Blues. They should have crushed them.
Seriously. It just pisses me off. The Blues better make some serious changes

[dmiles2186]

Absolutely pathetic that the Blues lost to the Wild, even more now that hindsight is 20/20.

[gaijin]

And Minnesota proves just how good they are.
Screw the Blues. They should have crushed them.
Seriously. It just pisses me off. The Blues better make some serious changes

Every year, after our playoff flame-out, we are told that expectations are higher than this and anything less than Conference Finals next year is unacceptable, or else major changes are going to be made. We've been told that every year, and have said serious changes been made?

Unfortunately, I expect more of the same this offseason. Or maybe I'm just feeling pessimistic still.

[Kerfuffle]

With success comes higher ticket prices. My third level seats for regular season are:

2009-2010 - $35ea.
2010-2011 - $50ea.
2011-2012 - $55ea.
2012-2013 - $64ea.
2013-2014 - $74ea.
2014-2015 - $85ea.
2015-2016 - $95ea.

So basically triple the cost due to winning 2 Stanley Cups. It's been fun but getting close to being priced out.

[ecbm]

Hmph.

A squad with heart snapped MIN's collective neck like a chicken's.

Imagine that.

[ecbm]

winning 2 Stanley Cups

= Priceless.