SET THE STAGE: 2013 Conference Quarterfinals, Game 4

The Blackhawks entered Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Wild with a rare bitter taste in their mouths.

After blitzing through the regular season with a 36-7-5 record and winning the first two games of the best-of-seven series against the Wild, the Blackhawks suffered a loss in Game 3 and had to regroup to keep things on track.

Enter Corey Crawford and his buddies on the penalty kill.

The goaltender was at his best with 25 saves and Crawford got plenty of help defensively - especially during six Wild power plays - as the Blackhawks blanked the Wild 3-0 in the hostile environment of the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota on May 7, 2013. The Blackhawks seized a 3-1 series lead and never looked back as they marched to the 2013 Stanley Cup.

2013 REWIND

**REWIND**: Schedule and More Info

**REWIND**: Schedule and More Info

**REWIND**: Schedule and More Info

The effort on the penalty kill became a staple of the Blackhawks during the postseason run as they killed off all 17 Wild power plays in the first round and reeled off 29 consecutive kills before finally yielding a score while shorthanded in Game 4 of the conference semifinals against the Red Wings.

The Blackhawks' penalty kill finished third in the regular season with an 87.2 percent kill rate and then stopped 69 of 76 opponents' power plays (90.8 percent) throughout the playoffs.

Along with Crawford, stalwarts on the penalty kill included Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook on the back end and Marcus Kruger, Michael Frolik, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, Michal Handzus and Brandon Saad up front.

"Our penalty kill was lights-out that whole playoffs," said Saad, who averaged 56 seconds of ice time while shorthanded in his first full NHL postseason. "Our penalty kill was so good and our team was so good 5-on-5 that it helped propel us to win the Cup. Going 6-for-6 in an important game of a playoff series was huge."

With Crawford stopping everything sent his way at one end against the Wild in Game 4, Patrick Sharp scored two goals and Bryan Bickell added another to provide the offense in the victory.

"Coming off a loss and being able to do shut them out, that pretty much sums up how well Crawford played," Saad said. "Then Sharp got on the board with a couple of goals and with Bickell producing, that's a recipe for success."