The Chicago Blackhawks made use of home ice against the Minnesota Wild. The team feed into the home crowd and went up 2-0 in their second-round series in the NHL Playoffs. The team looked like their championship self against their Western Conference rivals and hope to continue that same kind of play as they head on the road for Game 3.
The Wild have been making something out of nothing all postseason so ruling them out being down 2-0 would be crazy. Minnesota rallied in the same position against the Colorado Avalanche including four goals in Game 7. They are ready to do the same against the Blackhawks and getting back on home ice could easily spur the effort. The Wild do not have the best history against the Blackhawks in the postseason. They lost in five games last season in the first round and so far are 1-6 with no goals in 21 power plays against Chicago.
The Blackhawks have not lost since April 19. The team dropped the first two games against the St. Louis Blues, but then rattled off four straight wins. They have outscored their opponents 23-9 as their win streak continues. There could be one minor pump in the Blackhawks Game 3. Andrew Shaw is not expected to play on Tuesday after leaving Game 1 early with a lower-body injury and is not expected to return anytime soon. He has scored 20 goals, but Chicago did not miss a beat without him in Game 2 thanks to Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell picking up the slack.
The Wild have not got the production they need out of their top players and will need to start clogging up the lanes if they are going to stop Chicago's hot sticks. The Wild have been able to overcome a lot in this postseason and plan to continue the trend.