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Blackhawks vs Wild

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Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Five reasons why the Blackhawks advanced

Wednesday, 05.14.2014 / 6:09 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Shawn Roarke - Director, Editorial

The Chicago Blackhawks are back in the Western Conference Final, one series win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year.

In the Western Conference Second Round, the Minnesota Wild gave the Blackhawks all they could handle before succumbing in six games, including a 2-1 loss in overtime of the deciding Game 6 at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

"That was a tough team," Chicago goalie Corey Crawford said after Game 6. "They played really hard in this building, in Chicago too. They kept coming at us, tough series, really tough series."

Minnesota got the best-of-7 to 2-2 with back-to-back wins at home in Games 3 and 4, and put huge scares into the defending champions in Games 5 and 6 before falling short by a goal each time.

Here are five reasons the Blackhawks were the better team against the Wild:

Five reasons why the Wild were eliminated

Wednesday, 05.14.2014 / 6:02 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Dan Myers - NHL.com Correspondent

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- For the first time in a decade, the Minnesota Wild advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One year after reaching the postseason for the first time in five years, the Wild went one step further, defeating the Colorado Avalanche in seven games before losing in six to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Wild and Blackhawks were tied at two wins apiece in the Western Conference Second Round, and Minnesota led 1-0 on the road after one period of Game 5. But Chicago's veteran stars were too much down the stretch and the Blackhawks rallied to win 2-1 before eliminating the Wild with their first loss at home in the playoffs in Game 6.

Here are five reasons why the Wild failed to reach the Western Conference Final:

Blackhawks find way to win again, take Game 6

Wednesday, 05.14.2014 / 2:17 AM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Shawn Roarke - Director, Editorial

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's going to take something special to knock the Chicago Blackhawks off their pedestal.

The Minnesota Wild gave it a serious go in the Western Conference Second Round, but lost in six games. They were eliminated on the cruelest possible bounce of the puck almost halfway through the first overtime of a game they had dominated in virtually every conceivable metric.

Patrick Kane roofed an unexpected and unexplainable carom off one of the stanchions that hold the protective glass in place to give the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks a 2-1 victory in Game 6 on Tuesday. Their reward is a berth in the Western Conference Final against either the Anaheim Ducks or the Los Angeles Kings.

While Chicago contemplates what it will take to advance to a third Stanley Cup Final since 2010, the Wild are left with the pain of pondering what could have been.

Wild's season ends on unfortunate bounce

Wednesday, 05.14.2014 / 2:10 AM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Dan Myers - NHL.com Correspondent

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu has played a lot of hockey in his professional life. He's a veteran of more than 600 NHL regular-season games and 29 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But never had Koivu seen a game end like it did Tuesday, when Minnesota suffered a season-ending 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of their Western Conference Second Round series.

"No, I haven't," Koivu said.

Ramsay: Wild must stop Blackhawks' stretch passes

Monday, 05.12.2014 / 6:33 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

For additional insight into the Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks, NHL.com has enlisted the help of former NHL coach Craig Ramsay to break down the action. Ramsay will be checking in throughout the series.

Ramsay played in more than 1,000 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres before going on to coach the Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers. In the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he led the Flyers to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Final. Ramsay was most recently an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers.

The Minnesota Wild are perfect at Xcel Energy Center in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs with five wins in five games.

If they want to stay that way and extend their season by at least one more game, longtime NHL coach and player Craig Ramsay said the Wild need to make two relatively minor adjustments against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of their Western Conference Second Round series Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; CNBC, TSN, RDS2).

"They have to make it difficult on the goalie by getting someone in front of him," Ramsay told NHL.com, "and they have to be aware of those stretch passes."


Five things Wild must do to force Game 7

Monday, 05.12.2014 / 6:02 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Shawn Roarke - Director, Editorial

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild are not ready to start their summer vacation. Yet, the Wild know if they don't find a way to win their next two games, the ugly specter of almost four months without meaningful hockey will become a reality.

The task starts Tuesday with Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center in this entertaining Western Conference Second Round series (9 p.m. ET; CNBC, TSN, RDS2). Chicago leads the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can book passage to a second straight Western Conference Final with a victory Tuesday, or Thursday in Game 7 if it becomes necessary.

It is a tough position to be in, but one which the Wild are intimately familiar. In the first round, against the Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota dropped the first two games on the road, won the following two home games and then was relegated to the brink of elimination after losing Game 5 on the road. It has been the same path to a do-or-die Game 6 against the Blackhawks.

Can the Wild fashion a Game 6 victory at Xcel Energy Center against the defending Stanley Cup champions to force a winner-take-all Game 7 like they did against the Avalanche?

That question will be answered Tuesday night, but Minnesota's best chance for a positive outcome -- and another Stanley Cup Playoffs game on Thursday -- will only happen if they accomplish these five things:

Quenneville's lineup changes spark Blackhawks

Monday, 05.12.2014 / 1:53 AM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Brian Hedger - NHL.com Correspondent

CHICAGO -- Joel Quenneville takes a fair amount of criticism from Chicago Blackhawks fans for the tinkering he does with his lineup, but it seems to work more often than not.

The most-recent evidence occurred Sunday night at United Center, when more tweaks by Quenneville sparked a 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of their Western Conference Second Round series.

The Blackhawks lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 heading back to Minnesota for Game 6 on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center (9 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN, RDS2), but it could've been a much different story were it not for some lineup changes paying off.

After watching his team stumble through a first period with six shots and trailing 1-0 at intermission, Quenneville went back to a familiar combination of forwards to spark the offense. Starting the second, he reunited a top-line combination that did a lot of damage in the regular season by putting left wing Patrick Sharp back with center Jonathan Toews and right wing Marian Hossa.

Toews delivers in big spot for Blackhawks again

Monday, 05.12.2014 / 1:41 AM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Shawn Roarke - Director, Editorial

CHICAGO -- The lasting image for the Chicago Blackhawks in their Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Wild in this Western Conference Second Round series was captain Jonathan Toews showing the rarest hint of frustration, banging his stick sharply while he slumped back to the bench after being negated by Minnesota's stifling defense.

Forty-eight hours later, the lasting image for the Blackhawks was of Toews being mobbed by teammates after he scored what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 victory in Game 5 at United Center on Sunday night that again gives Chicago control of the best-of-7 series.

Blackhawks seek way to shake free of Wild

Saturday, 05.10.2014 / 5:11 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Shawn Roarke - Director, Editorial

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks admit they are frustrated by the defensive ways of the Minnesota Wild in this best-of-7 Western Conference Second Round series, which is tied 2-2.

The Wild clawed their way back with a pair of dominating wins in Minnesota, allowing Chicago to score a total of two goals and manage 39 shots combined in Games 3 and 4. On a good night, the high-flying Blackhawks don't have to break a sweat to reach 40 shots in game. But in the four games of this series, Chicago hasn't managed more than 23 in any.

Game 5 is Sunday at United Center (9 p.m. ET; CNBC, TSN, RDS), and the Blackhawks believe they have a multilayered answer to the suffocation they have been suffering.

Ramsay: Wild defense must be active vs. Chicago

Saturday, 05.10.2014 / 4:09 PM / Blackhawks vs Wild - 2014 SCP Second Round

Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer

For additional insight into the Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks, NHL.com has enlisted the help of former NHL coach Craig Ramsay to break down the action. Ramsay will be checking in throughout the series.

Ramsay played in more than 1,000 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres before going on to coach the Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers. In the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he led the Flyers to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Final. Ramsay was most recently an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers.

The Minnesota Wild got back into their Western Conference Second Round series against the Chicago Blackhawks with back-to-back wins at home. After watching Minnesota even the series at two games apiece, longtime NHL coach and former player Craig Ramsay has five words of advice for the Wild as the series shifts to Chicago for Game 5 on Sunday at United Center (9 p.m. ET; CNBC, TSN, RDS2).

"Get the defensemen more involved," Ramsay told NHL.com.

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