The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild will meet in the post-season for the third consecutive year.
The Blackhawks knocked off the Wild in six games in 2014 before falling to the Los Angeles Kings in seven games in the Western Conference final. A year earlier the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks eliminated the Wild in five games in their first-round best-of-seven series.
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After looking like an underachiever through the first half of the season, the Wild rebounded behind the play of goaltender Devan Dubnyk upon his arrival from Arizona via trade.
The Blackhawks have questions in goal, with the club bouncing back-and-forth on the tandem of Corey Crawford and Scott Darling in their first-round series. This Central Division showdown has the makings of a great series. Here’s how the Blackhawks and Wild look heading into the second round.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: 48-28-6. 4TH in Western Conference
MINNESOTA WILD: 46-28-8. 7TH in Western Conference
Head-to-head
Chicago: 3-2-0
Minnesota: 2-3-0
Last game played head-to-head: The Wild officially punched their ticket to the post-season with a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks on April 7.
LEADING PLAYOFF SCORERS
Chicago: Jonathan Toews (8 pts), Duncan Keith (7 pts), Patrick Kane (7 pts)
Minnesota: Zach Parise (7 pts), Jason Pominville (5 pts), Mikael Granlund (5 pts)
ADVANCED STATS (regular season)
Chicago: 5on5CF% – 53.6; 5on5Sv% – .936; 5on5Sh% – 7.02; PDO – 100.6
Minnesota: 5on5CF% – 51.1; 5on5Sv% – .917; 5on5Sh% – 8.65; PDO = 100.4
FIRST ROUND
Chicago: Beat the Predators 4-2.
Minnesota: Beat the Blues 4-2.
LAST TIME THEY MET IN THE PLAYOFFS: The Blackhawks and Wild met in the second round of the 2014 playoffs, with the former knocking out the latter in six games.
The Blackhawks rallied from down 2-0 to the St. Louis Blues in the first round to win four straight. The Blackhawks ended the Wild’s post-season in dramatic fashion, with Patrick Kane scoring the overtime winner in Game 6.
CHICAGO’S HIGHLIGHT OF THE PLAYOFFS
With all due respect to some great goals from Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Jonathan Toews, it’s pretty tough to top Brent Seabrook’s triple overtime winner that sunk the Predators in Game 4.
MINNESOTA’S HIGHLIGHT OF THE PLAYOFFS
In a first-round series where St. Louis Blues star Vladimir Tarasenko made highlight reel plays on a nightly basis, it was easy to overlook the play of Devan Dubnyk when he was at the top of his game.
After a rough go in Game 4, Dubnyk turned in a Vezina-calibre performance in Game 5. This desperation pad save on Alex Steen deserves multiple viewings.
KEY INJURIES
Chicago: The Blackhawks currently have no injuries to report.
Minnesota: Keith Ballard (IR: concussion, facial fractures)
