Struggles against Chicago only get tougher to swallow

It’s been nearly a year since the Chicago Blackhawks were gifted a 2-1 Game 6 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The puck ricocheted off of an Xcel Energy Center glass stanchion to Patrick Kane — of all people — who, in a split second facilitated Minnesota’s second straight postseason elimination by the Blackhawks.

Fast forward to Tuesday night’s Game 3 in which Kane scored the lone goal, his fourth of the series, in a 1-0 Chicago win in St. Paul to give the Blackhawks a commanding 3-0 second-round series lead.

The Wild may very well win Game 4 at home on Thursday and avoid a sweep, but to expect even this resilient group to become just the fifth team NHL history to rally from such a deficit is asking a lot. Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, however, offered a slightly different, albeit unrealistic, take.

“We’ve always seemed to make it harder on us than we need to,” Suter said. “Maybe this is a good thing for us.”

Chicago’s Patrick Kane continues to be a thorn in Minnesota’s side, especially in the postseason. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Each of the aforementioned Kane goals was his sixth of the postseason and both, one unequivocally and one potentially, killed the Wild’s postseason.

But they also produced vastly different post-game reactions from players.

Kane’s overtime winner a year ago left Minnesota with a sense of disappointment and frustration in its failure to advance, but it was tempered by pride in advancing past the first round for the first time in 11 seasons and pushing the defending Stanley Cup champs as hard as they did.

“I thought we had our chances and that’s why it really sucks right now,” Wild captain Mikko Koivu said at the time. “It’s been a great run. It’s been the best time of my NHL career and when it ends like that it’s an empty feeling right now.”

Zach Parise added, “We did a lot of good things to get to where we are but it’s disappointing to be ending right now.”

Win, lose or “happy point,” Parise is generally not one to shy away from questions after a game, but it was clear Tuesday’s loss particularly stung Minnesota’s assistant captain. He responded to eight questions with a total of 101 words.

When asked where his team goes from here, Parise replied, “Win the fourth game. That’s about it.”

While others in the room may have offered more in terms of sound bites, the cloud hovering above them was a few shades darker than it was 51 weeks ago.

The faces, such as Parise, Koivu, Jason Pominville, Suter and Mike Yeo, remain the same but their expectations have since risen to a point where the Wild’s current conundrum is virtually inconceivable to them.

“We know what we’re up against, so I’m not going to get up here right now and give a big rah-rah speech,” Yeo said after Game 3. “We’ve got to win a game. It’s as simple as that. In all honesty, I’ve never been here before. It’s kind of unfamiliar territory. I guess what you do is try to draw upon previous experiences even though it’s not the same.”

Yes, it’s true this same cast of characters compiled a pitiful 18-19-5 record through 42 regular season games and stormed back to make the playoffs. But while its 28-9-3 mark to close out the season may reflect overachievement to a degree, it is by far a more accurate depiction of the Wild’s capabilities.

So, of course, Minnesota looked at this series as a chance to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2003 — especially after the Wild dispatched St. Louis, considered by many a tougher matchup for them, in six games.

Scenes like this have been few and far between for the Wild in their series with Chicago. (MHM Photo / Jonathan Watkins)

But the playoff demons which have plagued the Wild against Chicago the past two seasons linger: Kane, Corey Crawford, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and, let’s be honest, some pretty miserable puck luck.

“We had some good looks, weren’t able to find a way to put one in and they miss a play, get a bounce and end up scoring a goal,” Pominville said. “That’s the difference. We just got to find a way to put one in and lately we haven’t been getting those bounces go our way.”

Even the one Minnesota exorcised, its own goaltending stability, hasn’t made a difference as season-savior Devan Dubnyk hasn’t been up to par against the Blackhawks. When asked what happened on the Kane goal in Game 3, Dubnyk took the Parise approach.

“Well, he shot it through my legs. That is what happened.”

But none of the rest of it matters if the Wild can’t score.

Minnesota’s top-5 regular season goal scorers (Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Thomas Vanek, Jason Zucker and Pominville) have combined for just 11 playoff goals in nine games and only two against Chicago. That’s two fewer than Kane alone has scored against Minnesota.

“We have to make sure we play our heart out next game and make sure we get some goals,” Niederreiter said. “That’s the biggest thing, we can’t win if we don’t score and that’s exactly what happened tonight.”

The oft-criticized Vanek has zero goals to go with his four postseason assists which hardly make up for his defensive liabilities.

On the other hand, Chicago’s five best goal scorers in the regular season have scored seven of their 17 overall postseason goals in this series and while Hossa, too, is scoreless he’s also a tremendous asset in his own zone.

Looking back at how the series has unfolded, it would be easy to recall specific key moments in each game and ponder the “What if …?” scenarios and the impact they had on the overall outcome. But Koivu dismissed that notion without hesitation.

“We haven’t done that and we’re not starting to do that,” Koivu said. “We’re going to take every positive thing that we have and what we had throughout the season. Right now we’re going to get ready for Game 4 and not look any further than that like we’ve been doing all season long.”

The post 3-0 deficit a bitter pill for Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Kane, Crawford have Minnesota in 3-0 series hole

St. Paul — This year was supposed to be different.

After consecutive postseason exits at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks, the maturing, playoff-tested Minnesota Wild with its goaltending situation no longer in question was poised to exorcise its Windy-City demons.

But after seizing a 2-0 series lead at home, Chicago was not about test fate two years in a row by returning to United Center for Game 5 tied 2-2. The Blackhawks sucked the Energy out of the Xcel Center in Game 3 with a first-period goal and held the Wild at bay from there for a 1-0 win giving Chicago the opportunity for a series sweep on Thursday in St. Paul.

A disappointed Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said the Wild, in a lot of ways, did what they needed to win but he also knows what they are up against.

“We didn’t get the result that I think we deserved tonight,” he said. “There’s no feeling sorry for ourselves right now. It’s disappointing where we’re at, but we’ve got one job to do and that’s win a game.”

None other than Wild killer Patrick Kane put the Blackhawks up 1-0 on a shot from near the bottom of the left circle which found its way between Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk’s pads at 14:06. The power-play goal was Kane’s fourth tally of the series in seven periods and his sixth of the playoffs.

It was all Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford would need as he shut out the Wild with a 30-save effort.

“Crawford, he’s a star against us,” Yeo said. “He’s (Martin) Brodeur. He’s (Patrick) Roy. He’s everybody against, so we’ve got to find a way to solve that.”

Crawford, who was pulled early in Chicago’s opening round series against Nashville and even temporarily lost his starting job to Scott Darling, has been stellar for the Blackhawks in the series having allowed just four goals in three games.

Minnesota is no stranger to digging itself a hole from which no one expected it to crawl out of after recovering from an 18-19-5 start to go on an improbable 28-9-3 run down the stretch just to make the playoffs.

But even the Wild may have bitten off more than they can chew in this case.

“We all know what we’ve been through and overcome, but … like I said, we’re in a hole,” Wild assistant captain Zach Parise said. “We gotta reset and try and get that next one.”

The Wild came out of the gate hard and fired the game’s first four shots before Chicago notched its first 5:49 into the game. But the Blackhawks rattled off the next six and eight of the period’s final 12 shots including Kane’s goal.

“Our start was excellent,” Yeo said. “But then as the period went on we started to turn pucks over again and that I think led into some chances coming back at us, and that kind of helped them feel a little bit better about their game.”

First-period scoring, or lack thereof, has been a problem all postseason for Minnesota, but not so much for its opponents. And Tuesday was no exception. For the sixth time in nine playoff games, the Wild allowed the game’s first goal and they have been outscored 10-3 overall in the opening period.

“First period we were skating good but we were kind of working against ourselves,” Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. “We turned the puck over a lot and we’d have to come back hard. And that wears on guys.”

“Certainly against that team there’s a big difference when they score first,” Yeo said. “It gives them the ability to sit back and defend a little bit more and forces us, not to open up, but it’s a little more difficult in terms of creating some situations.”

It wasn’t for lack of chances, though, as the Wild produced several prime scoring opportunities, particularly over the final two periods. But the combination of an inability to finish chances and the resurgence of Crawford conspired to put Minnesota on the brink of elimination.

“It’s right there for us but we couldn’t find a way to get in the net,” Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle said. “That’s what it came down to. Hat’s off to that goalie, but we’ve got to put pucks in the net.”

Minnesota’s power play which was so good in its six-game elimination of St. Louis in the first round has vanished against Chicago. Minnesota was 0-for-3 with the man advantage on Tuesday with just three shots on goal including a critical power play midway through the third period which didn’t generate a single shot.

“We’ve been moving it well and getting good looks,” Suter said of the Wild’s power play. “We had a couple chances and couldn’t capitalize. It cost us the game.”

Yeo admitted his team’s dire situation is unfamiliar territory for him but said the Wild will need to focus one one game at a time much like they did from midseason on.

“The only thing I can say is we came back from the dead once before this season,” Yeo said. “And the only way we did that was with character and belief. That’s what we need right now.”

Notes:

An overnight power outage in St. Paul caused the Xcel Energy Center’s ice plant to shut down for a short time early Tuesday morning. Arena staff, however, had the ice ready for both teams to conduct their morning skates and worked throughout the day to to restore the sheet to game condition. … Minnesota RW Chris Stewart was held out of Game 3 with an upper body injury sustained when Chicago D Johnny Oduya dragged him down near the end boards in Game 2. Normally a center, Jordan Schroeder made his second postseason appearance, and first of the series, in Stewart’s place on the right side of a line with LW Thomas Vanek and C Charlie Coyle. … After making his 2015 playoff debut in Game 2, RW Erik Haula was scratched and RW Ryan Carter saw his first action of the playoffs on Minnesota’s fourth line with C Kyle Brodiak and LW Matt Cooke.

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Minnesota riddles Corey Crawford with shots but can’t solve him

ST. PAUL – The Wild capped a dramatic few days in the hockey world by registering their fifth game of the season with 40-plus shots on goal in front of the 20th consecutive home sellout crowd Thursday night.

The end result, however, was a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota’s ninth defeat in its past 11 starts.

Nevertheless, coach Mike Yeo said, it was not a disastrous evening.

Yeo, who went off on his team at practice the day before, highlighted the overall details of this game in which his team was missing Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Darcy Kuemper, Keith Ballard and Nate Prosser for various reasons.

“It’s hard to be happy when you don’t win,” Yeo said, “but we were down 2-0 and we continued to play. We fell short in the game, but we gave ourselves a great chance.”

Parise, mourning the death a day earlier of his father, former NHL all-star J.P. Parise, missed his second game because of it. Granlund is recovering from wrist surgery.

They are two of Minnesota’s top forwards, but Jordan Schroeder came up from Iowa and Jason Zucker continued a stretch of sterling play, allowing the Wild offense to shake off the absences of the other two.

Minnesota outshot the Black Hawks 44-20 but could not solve the goaltending of Chicago’s Corey Crawford.

“This was a good step in a positive direction,” Wild winger Jason Pominville said.

“The passion tonight, the effort tonight, I thought were the best in a long time,” winger Thomas Vanek added.

Yeo, who went all in with his on-ice tirade in front of Twin Cities and visiting media members Wednesday morning, got exactly what he was looking for.

He said he told his players at the morning skate Thursday that they could play great and win or lose but could not lock up a spot in or out of the playoff race, no matter the result. All they could produce, he noted, would be the proper attitude and the proper work ethic.

Done.

“What’s important,” Yeo said, “is that we get back to the process of what it takes to make the playoffs. … Looking at the game, we play like that night after night, what it takes to make the playoffs with that kind of consistency, we give ourselves a good chance.”

The mood in Minnesota’s dressing room was somber but positive. After getting blown out by Dallas over the weekend and losing in lackluster fashion in overtime to San Jose on Tuesday with Parise missing, the Wild exhibited the kind of play they produced early in the season.

Although they have won just four of their past 15 games, there was zip in their play.

“We were short, that’s the bottom line,” captain Mikko Koivu said, “but I thought we had a good, 60-minute effort from everyone on the whole team, and that’s what we’re going to need to get out of this.”

Zucker, who scored his team-leading 15th goal and had five shots on goal, liked everything but the final score.

“If we play like that, we’re going to win games,” he said.

Pominville, whose goal and assist put him atop the team’s stats with 32 points, tipped his cap to Yeo’s tirade the day before.

“He wasn’t happy with what he saw and he let us know,” Pominville said. “It’s been a big story, but I think that was good; I think we needed that and guys responded the right way.”

With Kuemper on injured reserve for a lower-body injury, Nik Backstrom stepped in to stop 16 of 19 shots before the Hawks finished the evening with an empty-net goal.

Prosser worked out in the morning but sat out because of illness, and Ballard remains sidelined indefinitely because of a concussion and facial fractures.

In came Schroeder, a former Gopher, joining a line with former Gophers Vanek and Erik Haula and collecting a career-high seven shots on goal.

He earned praise from Yeo.

But Yeo, 36 hours after his eruption, had praise for just about everybody.

The team is not satisfied with a loss, he said, but players went hard after it all night and “that’s what we need right now.”

The post Winning effort, losing result appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Patrick Kane’s opportunistic Game 6 OT winner ends Minnesota’s season

SAINT PAUL—The look on their faces said it all.

Minnesota Wild players wore a blended expression of shock and dismay as they recounted the evening’s events leading up to Chicago’s Patrick Kane ending Game 6, and their season, with a goal at 9:42 of overtime on  Tuesday night in front of 19,396 mostly stunned onlookers at Xcel Energy Center.

What appeared to be a harmless dump in by Chicago’s Brent Seabrook in overtime became disastrous when the puck deflected off one of the stanchions keeping the rink’s glass in place and bounced into the slot. While Wild defenseman Ryan Suter tied up the Hawks’ Peter Regin, but the trailing Kane corralled the puck and made a nifty forehand-backhand move before roofing a shot behind Minnesota goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov who finished with 25 saves.

Suter said what was on everyone’s mind after the game: it’s too bad such a well-played game ended in such a manner.

“But that’s why you play the games because you never know what’s going to happen,” Suter added.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Wild forward Zach Parise said. “Other than capitalizing on some chances we played pretty solid.”

To a man, Wild players spoke about opportunities missed and feelings of emptiness and did so with good reason as the Wild actually outplayed the Blackhawks much of the night. But Minnesota’s magic ride to within sight of the Western Conference Finals, however, was derailed by a pair of untimely bounces in its defensive zone and several more on the other end.

“I thought we had our chances and that’s why it really sucks right now,” Wild captain Mikko Koivu said. “It’s been a great run, it’s been the best time of my NHL career and when it ends like that it’s an empty feeling right now.”

Goalposts, thwarted breakaways, wasted power plays and Chicago goalie Corey Crawford’s 34 saves conspired to hand Minnesota its first and only loss of the 2014 postseason. Crawford was strong in his return to Minnesota after shaky performances in Games 3 and 4, particularly on a second-period breakaway in which he stopped not just one, but two consecutive Justin Fontaine attempts.

“It hurts to lose,” Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. “We really believed we were capable of doing more than just winning this game tonight.”

The Hawks struck first when Kris Versteeg’s sharp-angle shot bounced off traffic in front of the crease and past Bryzgalov just 1:58 into the contest. Versteeg muscled the puck away from Wild defenseman Keith Ballard in the right corner and threw the puck to the net for first goal of the playoffs.

But Erik Haula scored the Wild’s lone goal for the second time in as many games when he used his speed to split Chicago defensemen Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson, beating both to the puck on his way to scoring his third of the series and fourth of the postseason at 2:29 of the second.

But Crawford would surrender no more and the Hawks got the one bounce they needed to advance to the Western Conference Finals where they will face the winner of the series between Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.

“There’s always one team that’s happy at the end of a season, there’s one team that has a successful season,” Parise said. “We did a lot of good things to get to where we are but it’s disappointing to be ending right now.”

The post Hawks Bounce Wild From Playoffs appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Toews, Bickell lead Chicago over Minnesota and into series’ driver’s seat.

As Minnesota returns home from Chicago after falling 2-1 to the Blackhawks in Game 5 Sunday night at the United Center, the Wild cannot look back at its missed opportunities in the loss … primarily due to the view-concealing wall firmly pressed against their backs.

The Wild played a solid opening 20 minutes to carry a 1-0 lead into the second period in their quest to give themselves a chance to close out the series in Tuesday’s Game 6 in St. Paul. But Wild killer Bryan Bickell scored midway through the second and Hawks captain Jonathan Toews scored his fourth game winner of the postseason early in the third to lift Chicago over Minnesota and take a 3-2 series lead, pushing the Wild to the brink of elimination.

The must-win is not unfamiliar to the Wild as Tuesday’s elimination game will be the Wild’s third of the postseason after winning games 6 and 7 against Colorado in round one. But that was against the up-and-coming Avalanche, not the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks, a far more daunting task to say the least.

Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford found the home crowd more to his liking and rebounded from a pair of subpar performances at Xcel Energy Center to make 27 saves in the win. A couple of first-period goal post shots off the sticks of Minnesota’s Charlie Coyle and Justin Fontaine were also quite helpful.

Ilya Bryzgalov kept the Wild in it, in his own unique and heart-stopping way, with 26 saves of his own as the Blackhawks got off a series high 28 shots. While he got away with a few mistakes through the game, neither Chicago goal could be pinned on him.

Chicago tied it at 9:18 of the second on Bickell’s power-play goal with Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin off for hooking. Bickell had set a screen for Patrick Kane when Kane’s shot hit Bickell near a sensitive area, dropped to the ice and bounced over Bryzgalov’s right pad to make it 1-1 after two periods.

Entering the contest, second round teams were 19-0 when scoring first but someone clearly forgot to tell Toews. After Bryzgalov stopped Patrick Sharp’s initial shot, the bouncing puck was settled by Marian Hossa and fed to Toews who scored his fifth of the playoffs just 4:33 into the third.

The Wild made their push over the final 15:27, even outshooting the Blackhawks 14-7 in the final period, but Crawford stopped everything including attempts by Ryan Suter, Nino Niederreiter, and Zach Parise in the waning moments.

Former Gopher Erik Haula continued to shine for Minnesota in his rookie season and put his team on the board late in the first period.

Haula picked up a Jared Spurgeon pass in the Wild’s zone, blew by Kane and around Duncan Keith in the neutral zone and fired a shot from the top of the circles which Crawford stopped. But the speedy Haula followed his shot, beating Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook to his own rebound for his third goal of the playoffs.

Tuesday’s Game 6 is scheduled for 8 p.m. and can be seen, once again, on CNBC.

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