The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild are playing Game 4 live on the NHL playoffs schedule from NBC Sports Network and the NBCSN Live Extra website on Thursday night and the matchup from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul has Minn looking to avoid the sweep by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, as the Hawks are up 3-0 in the western conference semis and could make it to the finals again.
The Blackhawks have played at a furious pace in the series and Minnesota has been unable to get anything going. The Blackhawks had a lead in the first game before letting the Wild back in, but they won that matchup 4-3 and since then, the team has allowed just one goal. As the Rangers well know, teams likely will not win games when scoring just once in two matchups and that is what happened to the Wild.
The Blackhawks won the first two games at home and now they are poised to make it to the western conference finals for the third straight season. Last year the team lost against the Kings after winning the Cup the previous season and right now they look like the favorites in all of the NHL. The Penguins are out and the Kings did not even make the playoffs, leaving the Hawks as the only recent team left to win the Cup that is still alive in the playoffs.
The Ducks were a top team in the west and they may have the advantage in talent and points over the Hawks, but they lack the deep playoff experience that Chicago has. The Blackhawks appear to be the favorites in the NHL to win the Cup and they have scored four goals in the last two games while allowing just one to Minnesota. The Wild have not been able to get anything going on offense and the Blackhawks goaltending has once again been top notch in the postseason.
Patrick Kane got things going for the Blackhawks in Game 3 and now the team will try and complete the sweep on Thursday night. Corey Crawford had another standout game and he stopped all 30 shots that he saw on Tuesday. The Wild are making some changes for the game, with defenseman Jordan Leopold coming down and Nate Prosser stepping up and the team hopes that the change will make a difference.
The Blackhawks were one of the best goaltending teams in the league this year with Crawford and Antti Raanta also playing very well. The team was ranked second in the league in goals against and they are hoping to end things in four games rather than deal with another Game 5 matchup. The team would love the rest and they take on a Wild club that ranked sixth in goals against this season and 12th in the league in scoring with a number one ranked penalty kill.
Check here for the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild live coverage.
