WildHBcommunity: Game 5 is Going to be a Mother......Happy Mother's Day!
Minnesota Wild Can Turn the Hockey World Upside Down in Game 5 Tonight
The Minnesota Wild must win a game in Chicago to advance to next round of the playoffs and there is no better time than the present to break this deadlock and put the Chicago Blackhawks up against elimination. The home team has defend their castle in this series. In Game 1 & 2 at the United Center, the Wild worked very hard to dominate the possession and get enough shots on netminder Corey Crawford to steal a game in Chicago early in this series. The Wild fell victim to the Blackhawks ability to make their opponents pay for errors and swung both games in their favor despite being out chanced.
I make no mistake about it, this Blackhawks team has multiple cups and world class talent so for the Wild to take control of this series with a win tonight they will need to play mistake free. Game 3 & 4 of this series at the Excel Energy Center proved what we all know about this team being capable generating scoring from all four of their forward lines. Beyond the secondary scoring though, the true key to success for the Wild has been choking the excitement out of the Blackhawks high powered offensive players with suffocating pressure from all five skaters every shift.
Zach Parise Destroying Patrick Kane for Your Viewing Pleasure!
The truth to be told Ilya Bryzgalov is not going to be a extreme difference maker for the Wild this series and I think they have adjusted their team mentality and effort accordingly to not let a soft goal get them feeling like they don't belong in this series. What Bryzgalov has accomplished in his time with Wild since coming to the team in a trade deadline deal is earn the trust and admiration of his teammates. I think we all realize that Bryz is a polarizing figure in the NHL and hockey world in general but he has been an excellent addition for the Wild in performance and personality.
The Wild has seen their young core individually and on a whole elevate their play during both playoff series and as result I think they can play with any of the remaining teams in a seven game series. The evolution of the Wild's line combination has made for some of the most exciting and potent offensive hockey we have seen maybe ever from this franchise besides the individual scoring outputs of Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston.
The Wild has gotten goals from 16 different players in their lineup during the playoffs which leads the league. What we saw last year from the Blackhawks is that in the NHL playoffs teams have to fight for every inch and if you can get production from all four of your forward lines you can beat any opponent in a 7 game series.
The Minnesota Wild Win Tonight and They Take Control of Series I FEEL IT
I think the Wild will win tonight in Chicago. I truly believe this team is special because as I have learned along the way this season they truly rally around each other and their head coach Mike Yeo. This group has committed to each other to give every bit of energy and effort and it has propelled them in defeating teams that were perceived to be better than them.
This team has pushed past a goaltending situation that is just completely unbelievable and it is has only made them stronger. Tonight is going to be a war as the balance of the series will be riding on which team emerges from tonight with a 3-2 lead in this series as it returns to the X for Game 6.
Special Shout Out to Carlos Gonzalez @CarlosGphoto
Niederreiter congratulated Ilya Bryzgalov aftr making save on Jeremy Morin shot 3rd Period Game 4 #MNWild #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/QCJGmveWBu
— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) May 10, 2014Ilya Bryzgalov robbing Patrick Sharp on a 2nd period breakaway. Game 4 #MNWild #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/tPgqMYDxFE
— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) May 10, 2014Zach Parise & Duncan Keith - Game 3 #MNWild #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/gcxMWLfbUQ
— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) May 7, 2014Projected Lineups for Game 4:
Wild
Parise-Granlund-Pominville Niederreiter-Koivu-Coyle Fontaine-Haula-Cooke McCormick-Brodziak-Heatley
Suter-Brodin Spurgeon-Scandella Prosser-Stoner
Bryzgalov Curry
Blackhawks
Versteeg-Toews-Bickell Saad-Kruger-Kane Sharp-Handzus-Hossa Nordstrom-Regin-Smith
Keith-Seabrook Oduya-Hjalmarsson Brookbank-Leddy
Crawford Raata
Round 2 –Wild vs. Blackhawks –(All times CT) Game 1 –CHI 5, MIN 2 Game 2 –CHI 4, MIN 1 Game 3 –MIN 4, CHI 0 Game 4 –MIN 4, CHI 2 Game 5 –Sun., 5/11, at Chicago, TBA evening Game 6 (if necessary) –Tue., 5/13, at Minnesota, TBA Game 7 (if necessary) –Thurs., 5/15, at Chicago, TBA
Just My Take, Tony Dean Follow Me on Twitter @TonyDeanTHW Also Like the WildHBcommunity of FaceBook here: WildHBCommunity on FaceBook