The Chicago Blackhawks had to hold on to home ice advantage against a surging Minnesota Wild team, and they did. I won’t waste time with the newspaper game recap story atuff and get to my analysis of the past few games.
Corey Crawford showed why he is one of the more trustworthy goaltenders in the playoffs and the league. Aside from the odd/bad goal scored by Erik Haula in the first period, ‘Crow’ was on his best behavior. His most impressive stretch of game five came in the later stages of the third period when the Wild were pressing. Crawford’s game four was less than memorable, and I mentioned on 87.7 FM’s ‘Dylan and Doyle Show’ that #50 would have to win this game.
He did, and now the Hawks head to Minnesota with a chance to close out the series.
Going into last night’s game, teams that scored first in the second round were 19-0. Chicago is the outlier now.
Peter Regin played so well that coach Joel Quenneville will bench him. He shouldn’t but I have little faith in Q rewarding a player who barely saw the ice prior to now. Regin was brought in to be a bottom six forward and play defensive, responsible hockey. Regin’s second period rush to the net led to the Jonas Brodin penalty and Chicago’s power play goal. That rush alone is more than what suspended forward Brandon Bollig has contributed during the duration of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I am more than willing to foot the bill for Bollig and Wild hack Matt Cooke’s trip to the sun.
The Regin-Bryan Bickell-Kris Versteeg line was effective in game five. Versteeg has been nothing short of awful for the postseason, but had his best game of the postseason. Chicago’s first power play came courtesy of Versteeg’s work in the offensive zone. If those three are paired together Tuesday night, I won’t be too upset.
Corey Crawford remains undefeated in game fives, and his glove hand is no worse than 95% of netminders in the league. Get over it.
Sheldon Brookbank has been the Chicago Blackhawks’ fourth best defenseman, albeit in a smaller sample size. There appeared to be some gelling issues between Brookbank and Nick Leddy that led to Leddy’s poor performance in game five, but that has to be ironed out quickly because the two should be together on the blueline again Tuesday.
Chicago and Minnesota are a combined 11-0 at home and 2-10 on the road this postseason. The Blackhawks need to end another streak by ending the Wild’s solid run at home. I think they can with the group that skated tonight. The only change that should be made is the insertion of a healthy Andrew Shaw, which does not appear likely. Shaw has yet to skate in practice.
The Chicago Blackhawks showed fans how you beat the Minnesota Wild: chip, chase, and skate into the offensive zone with speed. Do that for three more periods and the series will be over.
It has been an impressive run for the Wild’s young skaters. Haula, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Jared Spurgeon have been forces at times on the ice. Spurgeon’s offense on the back end has been such an important addition to the Wild’s improving offense. The major downfall of their growth is knowing that they will be in the same division as Chicago for the foreseeable future.
Game six is Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on CNBC. Until then, breathe and stock up on what helps you cope with the intensity of playoff hockey.
The Quenneville line blender was in full effect again game five. When Q decides to eliminate the line ants in his pants, Blackhawk Nation will breathe a collective sigh. The frustration has gone from words to illustration.
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Jeff is a production assistant @120Sports and contributor to hockey, football, and baseball for The Sports Bank. Follow him on Twitter @skcih_ffej.