Bruins vs Red Wings

For additional insight into the Western Conference Second Round series between the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Claude Noel to break down the action. Noel will be checking in throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Noel was coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 2011-14 and interim coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-10. He also coached many years in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Noel, a former forward, had 138 points in 353 regular-season games in the AHL and played seven games in the NHL with Washington Capitals in 1979-80.

The last time the Chicago Blackhawks won the opening three games of a best-of-7 series was during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs when they would ultimately win the Stanley Cup for the fourth time in franchise history.

CHICAGO -- Corey Crawford is tired of rehashing the Western Conference First Round, when the Chicago Blackhawks' top goalie was benched for four starts. But his earlier problems during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs were a distant memory at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

Crawford came full circle after a bumpy start to the playoffs and stonewalled the Minnesota Wild with a 30-save shutout. The Blackhawks' 1-0 victory in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round put them up 3-0 in the best-of-7 series, and Crawford has been a big reason for the commanding lead.

"It was a great game for him," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who made the decisions to pull Crawford in Game 1 of the first round against the Nashville Predators and bench him in Game 3 for rookie Scott Darling. "It was a goalie win. It was one of those games from the outset that we needed him to be strong and he made some key stops, particularly in that second period and around the net in the third."

Crawford, who had started 57 consecutive postseason games prior to Darling's promotion, has played all nine periods of the first three games of this series. He's shut the Wild out in seven of them, including a difficult third period Tuesday.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild played perhaps their best game of the Western Conference Second Round series against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center.

It wasn't enough, though, because Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford shut the door, making 30 saves in a 1-0 win Tuesday that gave Chicago a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.

As the mountain has grown steeper for the Wild, so has their frustration. Crawford, who was benched for portions of the Blackhawks' first-round series against the Nashville Predators, has rediscovered his game. Now the Wild are one loss away from having their season ended by the Blackhawks for the third straight year.

"Crawford, he's a star against us," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "He's [Martin] Brodeur. He's [Patrick] Roy. He's everybody against us, so we've got to find a way to solve that."

CHICAGO -- Someday the top players on the Chicago Blackhawks will reach an inevitable point on the aging curve.

They will slow down and not be as productive. Time will win, even if Marian Hossa is trying to refute that suggestion. It is also possible the core of the Blackhawks will be broken up, or at least altered, because of the salary cap.

For now, the Blackhawks remain the most talented team in the NHL. The Minnesota Wild played pretty well in Game 1 of this Western Conference Second Round series and less so in Game 2, but the talent and skill of the Blackhawks was obvious.

"They have that killer instinct," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. "Their top players know how to score. I made a mistake on that first [goal Sunday] and it's in the back of the net."

For additional insight into the Western Conference Second Round series between the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Claude Noel to break down the action. Noel will be checking in throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Noel was coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 2011-14 and interim coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-10. He also coached many years in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Noel, a former forward, had 138 points in 353 regular-season games in the AHL and played seven games in the NHL with Washington Capitals in 1979-80.

The star players for the Chicago Blackhawks certainly rose to the occasion in the clutch during Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round series against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday at United Center in Chicago.

CHICAGO – Everything was stacking up for the Minnesota Wild at United Center on Sunday until just past the midway point of the Chicago Blackhawks’s 4-1 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round.

Borrowing a page from the Wild’s playbook, the Blackhawks beat them at their own game to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, which shifts to Xcel Energy Center for the next two games. The 2-0 lead Chicago took in the second period was more of a concern after the game.

Instead of the Wild, it was the Blackhawks who played sound defense until capitalizing on a couple of key mistakes. Goals by Chicago captain Jonathan Toews at 12:28 and forward Patrick Kane at 19:40 of the second period put Minnesota in a bad spot heading into the third for the second time in as many games.

When he's on – Dubnyk uses his 6-foot-6 frame efficiently by limiting movement, staying patient with more passive positioning and tracking down on shots and lateral passes to limit how much he opens up.

When he's off – Dubnyk gets passive with his butterfly drops, letting pucks go under him, drops his hands early into blocking mode and can get stuck on lateral plays, reaching rather than moving into plays, which opens up holes that are always bigger for a tall goalie.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks have more Stanley Cup Playoff experience, but the Minnesota Wild learned some valuable postseason lessons of their own the past couple of seasons.

That's why the Wild aren't showing much concern heading into Game 2 of this Western Conference Second Round series on Sunday at United Center (8:30 p.m. ET; CBC, NBCSN, SN360, TVA Sports 2).

After a 4-3 Game 1 loss on Friday, the Wild feel better equipped to handle adversity than they did in 2013, when the Blackhawks eliminated them in a Western Conference Quarterfinal that lasted five games.

The Wild were upbeat and confident after practice Saturday despite losing their seventh straight playoff game here. Chicago has eliminated Minnesota from the postseason the past two years.

"We're not concerned about what's happened in the past," said Wild forward Zach Parise, who had a goal and an assist in Game 1. "It's a new team. It's a whole new playoff round. We're not sitting here thinking, 'Oh, here we go again.' We've got another chance [in Game 2] to win a game here and try to get back to Minnesota with a split."

CHICAGO -- In case it wasn't clear that forward Teuvo Teravainen is the youngest member of the Chicago Blackhawks, his deflated response Friday about his inability to grow a playoff beard was a reminder.

"I'm trying," Teravainen said with a sheepish attempt at a smile. "Maybe next year."

Teravainen doesn't turn 21 until September, but his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal was a big one. The Minnesota Wild had scored three straight in Game 1 of this Western Conference Second Round series and were carrying the play before Teravainen's shot from the left wall beat Devan Dubnyk at 19:01 of the second period.

The goal gave the Blackhawks a 4-3 lead and held up as the winner. Teravainen is the youngest player to score a game-winning goal in the playoffs for Chicago since Jeremy Roenick in 1990.

"It's a great feeling of course," Teravainen said. "I just think I had to shoot more. I got the puck there and I just tried to shoot. Sometimes good things happen."

CHICAGO -- It wasn’t the kind of game the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild usually play, and it could have finished with backup goalies in each net the way goals were being scored in the first two periods.

Instead, Blackhawks starter Corey Crawford (30 saves) and Wild counterpart Devan Dubnyk (31 saves) played the whole way in Chicago’s 4-3 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference Second Round series at United Center on Friday.

Dubnyk allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period, Crawford allowed three on 12 shots in the second, and the game was decided on one that eluded Dubnyk at 19:01 of the second.