The Chicago Blackhawks were nearly impossible to beat in the regular season and the Minnesota Wild couldn’t solve them in the playoffs. The Blackhawks cruised to a 5-1 victory in Game 5 to eliminate the Wild from the postseason.
Chicago’s only loss came in overtime and Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford allowed just seven goals this series.
Marian Hossa was the hero in this contest, netting Chicago’s first goal of the game and adding an insurance goal at 6:26 of the second period. He also picked up an assist.
Here are a few things to consider:
- Wild goaltender Josh Harding wasn’t at his best tonight, but he held his own against Chicago for most of the series. Still, would things have gone differently if Niklas Backstrom was available?
- Given recent history, it almost feels like the Chicago Blackhawks’ victory over the eighth seed Minnesota wild was in defiance of the odds. Going into the 2013 campaign, three of the last four Presidents’ Trophy winners lost their first-round series.
- Wild defenseman Ryan Suter logged 27:51 minutes in this game. He deserves a lot of credit for playing huge minutes in this series and just being an all-around great acquisition for Minnesota in his first season with the team.
- All the same, is this campaign a big setback after inking Suter and Zach Parise to massive contracts over the summer, should this season be regarded as a big disappointment for the Minnesota Wild? Or should it be dismissed as a transitional year towards something greater?
- After getting no points in his first four games of the postseason, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews registered two assists tonight.
- If nothing else, the Minnesota Wild played a disciplined game. They were eliminated with the least penalty minutes per postseason contest in the league.