Reddevil45

Johannesburg • South Africa • 15 Years Old • Male

Chicago Blackhawks against Minnesota Wild: Series Prediction

The Minnesota Wild will face the Chicago Blackhawks for the third straight post season. The Blackhawks have got the better of the Wild both times winning in 5 in 2013 (Round 1) and in 6 in 2014 (Round 2). It is also the second time in a row the Wild have beaten the Central Division champions (St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche last season) and faced the Blackhawks in the next round. Both teams won their series in six games with both teams clinching the series on home ice. The Wild come into the series with a definitive starting goaltender while the Blackhawks have issues in that regard. Devan Dubnyk carried the Wild into the playoffs and played well enough against the Blues to help the Wild advance. The Blackhawks had no issue about goaltending coming into the post season but Corey Crawford let in 3 goals on 12 shots in the 1st period against the Nashville Predators prompting the Blackhawks to put Scott Darling in net and he remained perfect in over 67 minutes of play and 42 shots faced. Darling didn’t perform all that well in the last couple of games conceding 7 goals on 40 shots. He got pulled after letting in 3 goals on 12 shots and Crawford was perfect in relief making 13 saves out of 13 (Was this game 1 with goaltenders being swapped). The Blackhawks have opted to start Corey Crawford for game 1 of the 2nd round. Jonathan Toews was tied for most points in the 1st round with Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Zach Parise was only 1 point behind Toews who were each team’s leading points scorer.

This series promises to be another good one between these 2 foes. Corey Crawford will get a much better start to game 1 in this series than in round 1 with him winning the game for the Blackhawks. Game 2 will go to the Hawks as well with great play from defenseman Duncan Keith. He will score another game winning goal to take his tally to 3 game winning goals. Game 3 will be the Dubnyk show with him keeping the Blackhawks offensive threats quiet for most of the game. The Blackhawks will win game 4 and send the series back to Chicago with a chance to end the series. Unfortunately for the Blackhawks the Wild will stave off elimination in game 5 thanks to Parise and Jason Pominville sending the series to Minnesota. The Blackhawks will end the series just how they did last season with a win in game 6 on the road. The Wild will fall short again but they will have many good aspects to take from this season.

Series: 4-2 Blackhawks
Game 1: 3-1 Blackhawks
Game 2: 4-2 Blackhawks
Game 3: 2-1 Wild
Game 4: 5-2 Blackhawks
Game 5: 4-3 Wild
Game 6: 6-4 Blackhawks
All Stats from NHL.com