Wild dig deep hole against Hawks
CHICAGO— Bryan Bickell had an open look on a break in the third period and shot the puck off the crossbar. He then tried the other side of the ice, and that worked out quite well for him and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bickell had a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Brandon Saad scored his first two goals of the post-season and Chicago earned its sixth consecutive win despite stretches of lacklustre play in the second and third periods. Corey Crawford made 18 saves in another solid performance.
“There were bits of that third where it wasn’t looking good, but we just stuck with it,” Bickell said.
Cody McCormick scored his sec- ond career playoff goal, but Minnesota missed another chance to steal home-ice advantage from the defending Stanley Cup champions.
“We weren’t that far off,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “Even though, again, I know we can play better.”
The series opener was tied 2-2 in the third period before Patrick Kane scored two of Chicago’s final three goals in a 5-2 victory on Friday night. Game 3 is Tuesday in Minnesota. Clayton Stoner and Erik Haula made nice passes to set up McCormick’s first playoff goal in three years two minutes into the third, trimming Chicago’s lead to 2-1. Crawford then batted a potential tying shot from Charlie Coyle over the crossbar. “I almost missed it, where it might have gone in,” Crawford said. “Just enough to land on top.” The Hawks eventually regained their composure and turned up the pressure again. Coming down the right side, Bickell shot the puck off the crossbar on a break with 4:39 to go. Given a second chance, the physical forward delivered. Bickell skated up the left side, got a pass from Marian Hossa and buried his shot into the upper right corner to extend Chicago’s lead to 3-1 at 17:15.
It was Bickell’s fifth goal of the playoffs. He also has three assists after he had nine goals and eight assists in last year’s playoffs.
“It’s that time of year, I enjoy it,” said Bickell, who had just 15 points during a disappointing regular season. “This is a crucial time for this team.”