UA-59049186-1 Western Conference Semifinal: Blackhawks 4, Wild 0 – Recap - Good if it Goes

Western Conference Semifinal: Blackhawks 4, Wild 0 – Recap

Game 1 Recap

Game 2 Recap

Game 3 Recap

Game 4 Recap

The Hawks will be making another trip to the Western Conference Final after sweeping the Minnesota Wild in the Semifinal. The Wild never led in the series, due to a combination of good offense and good defense by the Hawks.

The Hawks getting the first goal in each game was huge against this Minnesota team, as the Wild have to take some chances when they’re behind and are unable to focus on stifling their opponent in the neutral zone, which gave the Hawks a lot of trouble during the regular season.

I was particularly impressed with the offense, as the team scored only once on Devan Dubnyk in two regular season games (both losses). Rookie Teuvo Teräväinen looked like he’s been in the league for a few years with the way he played and the awareness he displayed on both ends of the ice. And of course, Patrick Kane did Patrick Kane-type stuff and made things very difficult for Dubnyk.

Michal Roszival suffered a nasty ankle injury in game 4 and will miss the rest of the playoffs. David Rundblad will take hs place in the lineup and Kimmo Timonen will likely see more ice time against the Anaheim Ducks than he has seen in each game of the playoffs thus far. The defense as a whole is going to need to take another step up, as Anaheim is a very good offensive team. I don’t know where the mentality of Hawks fans on social media that says the Hawks will be able to breeze through this series comes from; Anaheim will not be a cake walk. The Ducks will give the Hawks some problems with their size and scoring ability. Yes, the Ducks probably had a little bit easier road to get to the Western Conference Final going through the Pacific rather than the Central, but the Ducks are here for a reason – they’re good. One thing it is okay for Hawks fans to feel really good about here though – Frederick Anderson isn’t a Vezina contender.

Blackhawks 3 stars of the series:

★★★ Teuvo Teräväinen, F (1 G (1 GWG), 1 A)

★★ Duncan Keith, D (3 A)

★ Patrick Kane, RW (5 G (2 GWG)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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