Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild 7:00PM Central NBCSN/CBC/TVA
THE BUZZ
The Blackhawks come into this game with a lot of intangibles—they held serve at home and are up 2-0 in the series, playing likely their best game thus far in the playoffs in game 2, a convincing 4-1 victory over the Wild.
And yet, there are some danger sings for Game 4. My friend, former CSN Chicago broadcaster Josh Mora put the following up on his Facebook page this morning:
“Startling stat: Under Q, Blackhawks 6-11 in Games 3, and just 1-9 on road in Games 3. With 2-0 Series lead, they are 0-5 on road in Games 3, including 2 such losses to Minnesota (2013, 2014). Time to turn that around.…
(And yes, Josh, you should be doing that for a living still).
Xcel Energy Center is a tough building to play in, and should be really tough tonight. Let’s face it, the Wild have their backs to the wall. They have to win tonight, and then 3 of the next 4 games on top of it. One should fully expect them to come out flying and hitting everything in sight, pumped full of adrenaline.
For the Hawks, it seems the prescription is simple: weather the first period storm, and any subsequent storms sure to come later in the game, keep it close—and go for the kill late.
Statistically, historically, that’s not what they’ve done in road Game 3s. But it’s certainly a plausible outcome tonight.
Regardless, it’s important that Corey Crawford plays well. Crawford seems to be regaining his regular season mojo—and he has been lights out for the most part versus the Wild all year and in these playoffs.
Bryan Bickell has delivered 23 hits over the last two games—many of them big. At times in game 2, Wild defensemen seemed to be pulling up short with Bickell on the ice. This is more important than macho style points.
Big hits at this time of year leave physical and psychological marks and can really add to the burden of a tired team—which the Wild appeared to be after Game 2. After a few games of a withering physical attack, defensemen will not only think twice, they’ll make mistakes. And the Hawks have capitalized on most Minnesota mistakes thus far.
I would expect similar lines and pairings from both clubs.
I’ll recap tomorrow.
JJ
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