Joy In Repetition: Blackhawks Vs. Wild Preview
By Rob Winn in News on May 2, 2014 6:20PM
It took seven games and multiple overtimes, but the Blackhawks finally got their second round opponent late Wednesday night, when the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche in overtime. The Blackhawks got everything they wished for with the Wild winning: home-ice advantage, less travel and most importantly they avoided the Avalanche, who they struggled against in the regular season. But this isn't the same Wild team the Hawks faced last year when they cruised to a series win in five games. The Wild have emerging players and their two main stars, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, are living up to their massive contracts. That said, much like last year, their goalie situation is still a disaster.
The entire Blackhawks team practiced Thursday with one obvious exception: Jonathan Toews. All of the lines stayed the same through practice and coach Joel Quenneville said he was simply "under the weather." It will surely take more than a cold to keep him out of Game 1, but he did appear to injure his shoulder when he was hit in the third period of the deciding game against the Blues. Expect Toews to be ready, but it will be interesting to see if he is favoring his shoulder.
The Wild are a much more dangerous team than they were when the Hawks faced them in the opening round last year. They come into Friday's game having knocked off the upstart Colorado Avalanche without the help of home-ice advantage. With Zach Parise playing well and with young forwards like Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter (who scored the Game 7 overtime goal) contributing, the Wild pack a much more offensive punch than they have in the past. But their goaltending is still an issue.
Rookie Darcy Kuemper replaced Ilya Bryzgalov in Game 3 of the Avalanche series. The Wild came back and then won that series, but Kuemper was injured late in the final game. It looks like he won't be ready for Game 1 against the Hawks, so in comes perpetual head case and dire wolf owner Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov can be spectacular at times and as horrid in others. Look for the Blackhawks to try to rattle him early with a high amount of shots and plenty of net presence. If there was ever a job designed for Andrew Shaw, this is it.
The Hawks showed us last year that they can win without a great power play. But for most of the regular season the Hawks' power play was on par with some of the best in the league. It would be nice to see them take advantage in this series to put extra pressure on a Wild team that won't be able to match the Hawks' speed.
That brings us to the other side of special teams: the penalty kill. First and foremost, stop committing penalties. That can't be said enough. The PK was great throughout the entire series against the Blues, but the Hawks also benefited from unimaginative coaching by the Blues. The only way the Hawks will find themselves in trouble is if they continue to commit penalties and allow the Wild to cash in on them.
As the series against the Blues wore on, the Hawks seemed to find their game, culminating in a dominating third period during Game 6. Patrick Kane especially grew stronger as the series continued and took over the game at times. The Wild are much improved, but they still lack the skill and speed the Hawks posses. If the defense continues to hold down the fort, especially with the stellar play of Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Hawks should be in business. Plus you can only keep down scorers like Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp for so long. Expect the offense to continue to roll, even if the top line doesn't dominate.
Unless something dramatic happens (horrible human Matt Cooke is eligible to return for Game 4), this series should go no more than six games. Nice season Minnesota, thanks for taking out the Avalanche.