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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks recorded five total hits against the Minnesota Wild when they met in the regular season on April 9.

Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw, alone, had seven hits against the Wild in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday. As a team, the Blackhawks had 40 hits, four more than the Wild.

The Blackhawks may not have been the most physical team during the regular season, but they’re out to prove differently now the playoffs have arrived.

“I think it goes up a notch for everybody,” Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya said. “You’re trying to wear the opposition down as much as you can. Every little thing you do in a series, in the end you’re going to benefit from doing it. I think it goes for us and the other team, too. They’re trying to do the same thing.”

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender Henrik Karlsson will prepare Friday as if he’s going to play in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild.

Karlsson’s mentality isn’t a reaction to witnessing Minnesota Wild backup goaltender Josh Harding be called upon to replace Niklas Backstrom as the team’s starter less than 30 minutes prior to Tuesday’s game because of an injury. Karlsson always prepares physically and mentally to enter any game in which he’s the backup.

“Just train good and prepare and rest like you’re supposed to play and try to be focused,” said Karlsson after Thursday’s practice. “I just try to be ready. I’ve been a backup for a couple years, so I’ve been thrown in there in games. I think I have a lot of experience about that. Hopefully, nothing happens. But if something happens, I’ll be ready to step in and I’ll feel good.”

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks announced Thursday they will raise season-ticket prices by an average of 16 percent next season.

Blackhawks ticket operation and customer relations vice president Chris Werner said Thursday not all season-ticket holders will be affected the same by the price increase. For example, the season-ticket package that was priced at $28 per game this season will be increased to $36 next season. The Blackhawks offer eight different season-ticket packages.

"We're still trying to keep prices affordable and have different plans to choose from," Werner said. "We know how important it is to have a full building. What's so rewarding about working for the Blackhawks is having so loyal and dedicated fans.

"We were ranked 11th in ticket prices last season. We're a team that operates in a major market. We were ranked 28th in ticket prices during the 2007-08 season. We've made so many improvements in personnel and in the team in recent years that we're trying to remain competitive in a major market."

The Blackhawks have had 215 consecutive sellouts at the United Center dating back to the 2007-2008 season. They offer 75 percent of the seating at the United Center as part of season-ticket packages. There are more than 12,000 people on the season-ticket waiting list, according to Werner.

The Blackhawks also announced the 2013-2014 season-ticket plan will not include tickets to the outdoor game between the Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1, 2014. Werner said season-ticket holders will have a chance to purchase tickets to the game prior to the general public sales. The NHL, not the Blackhawks, will be responsible for ticket sales to Soldier Field.

ESPNChicago.com's Scott Powers takes your Hawks questions during a live chat at 1:30 p.m. CT. here to submit your questions.

CHICAGO -- Aside from the final score, the Minnesota Wild achieved Tuesday much of what they had hoped in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Wild slowed the Blackhawks' offensive attack, got in the way of their shots and forced a tight one-goal game which was only decided by the Blackhawks in the final five minutes of overtime.

The Wild's game plan was no surprise to the Blackhawks. They assumed the Wild would play in such a fashion and expect to see more of it the rest of the series. But the Blackhawks hope to put some more pucks past Wild goaltenders in Game 2 and beyond.

"It goes back -- Minnesota has always defended the front of their net extremely well," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said on Wednesday. "They collapse like a lot of teams in our league do. They protect that slot area. It's tough to penetrate with direct plays. Indirect plays off the goalie is the best way to get that guy the puck in the slot, so hopefully we get more pucks and more bodies in traffic at the net and look to get second and third opportunities. But the clean looks through the middle of the ice at their end is going to be hard to find."

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CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks are hopeful their worst period of playoff hockey is already behind them.

The top-seeded Blackhawks endured a nightmarish first period in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. The Blackhawks allowed the Wild to score on their first shot of the game and had more of their shots blocked (seven) than they got through to the net (six) in the first period.

The Blackhawks were put in an unfamiliar spot -- trailing after one period. They were down after one period in just nine games during the regular season.

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CHICAGO -- Injured Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland and goaltender Ray Emery are questionable for Game 2 Friday of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild. Neither played in Game 1 Tuesday, when the Blackhawks defeated the Wild 2-1 in overtime.

"I don't know about Game 2, but hopefully they will be skating (Thursday)," said coach Joel Quenneville, whose team did not practice on Wednesday. "We're hopeful on that. I don't want to comment too much on Friday right now on them."

Bolland has missed four consecutive games due to a lower-body injury. He suffered the injury against the Vancouver Canucks on April 22. He missed 13 games during season due to various injuries. He had seven goals and seven assists in 35 games in the regular season.

Emery has missed three consecutive games with a lower-body injury. He suffered the injury against the Edmonton Oilers on April 24. He is 17-1-0 with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage this season.

Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made 26 saves in Chicago's Game 1 victory, and he was backed up by Henrik Karlsson, who was recently recalled from the AHL's Rockford IceHogs.

The NHL announced Wednesday the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins will play at Soldier Field on March 1, 2014.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn’t pleased with forward Bryan Bickell after a shift during the third period Tuesday, and Bickell heard all about it when he returned to the bench.

Bickell sat there and accepted the criticism. He knew he’d get another chance on the ice and planned to redeem himself.

“I know Q wasn’t happy with me on one shift in the third and gave me a little wrist slap, but he threw me back out there,” Bickell said. “He has confidence in our line and knows what we can do.”

Bickell and the third line rewarded that confidence by putting together the game-winning goal, which was finished by Bickell, to defeat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford couldn’t have begun the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs any worse.

The first shot the Minnesota Wild took on Crawford in Game 1 of their first-round series bypassed him and found the inside of the net on Tuesday. Crawford saw the play unfold and was in position to stop the puck, but somewhere between the Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck shooting it and the lamp being lit, Crawford lost sight of the puck.

Crawford’s focus was undoubtedly shaken.

“It was definitely a battle,” Crawford said. “It’s not the way you want to start a game. I can’t remember what time it was on the clock when I got that shot. I wasn’t getting any work. I just tried to get myself in the game after that. … I saw the release. I just kind of lost the puck halfway. Whatever, it’s over. It happened. I just tried to regroup as quick as possible.”

A season ago, the early goal might have foreshadowed a long, difficult game for Crawford. But this season, he learned to keep his focus and not let any one goal affect him. It stuck to that blueprint again on Tuesday.

Crawford bounced back after Clutterbuck’s goal and didn’t allow the Wild to beat him again over the game’s final 70-plus minutes. He stopped the Wild’s next 26 shots and helped the Blackhawks to a 2-1 overtime win in Game 1.

“I was able to regroup pretty good,” Crawford said. “The guys were behind me, encouraging me.”

The Blackhawks’ confidence in Crawford and his own confidence in himself appeared to grow as the game progressed. The Wild didn’t have as many shot attempts as the Blackhawks did (37-27), but the Wild compiled a lot of quality ones, and Crawford was there to deny each one.

In overtime, Wild forward Zach Parise had one of the game’s best attempts, a wide-open look from the slot. Crawford knocked the shot away with his blocker, and the puck skipped just past the left of the net.

“He’s got a quick release,” Crawford said. “I just tried to read it as good as I could and just barely got enough of it.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was impressed by the save and how Crawford handled the early adversity, but it was nothing Quenneville wasn’t accustomed to seeing in the regular season.

“I thought he stayed with it,” Quenneville said. “He had a key save right before our score. He made a big save with a guy in the slot. He seemed big and he got comfortable. I liked the response. That’s kind of the way he played all year.”

CHICAGO -- Here’s a quick look at the Chicago Blackhawks' 2-1 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild at the United Center on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

How it happened: Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell continued to be a playoff star as he scored the game-winner in overtime off a pass from Viktor Stalberg. It was Bickell’s fifth playoff goal in the past three seasons. The eighth-seeded Wild initially shocked the sold-out Blackhawks crowd by scoring on their first shot of the game. The Wild went ahead 1-0 when Cal Clutterbuck beat Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford from the left circle at 4:48 of the first period. Crawford bounced back from the early goal and stopped the Wild’s next 26 shots. The Blackhawks evened the game at 1-1 when Patrick Kane dished the puck off to Marian Hossa on the rush, and Hossa finished from the left circle at 2:06 of the second period. Wild goaltender Josh Harding replaced Niklas Backstrom as the team’s starter just before the game. Harding, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier this year, played in five games during the regular season. He made 36 saves.

Player of the game: Harding stepped up in a difficult situation. He hadn’t started since Jan. 30 and found out just before Tuesday’s game he was going to have to replace Backstrom. In his last start, which also happened to be against the Blackhawks, he allowed two goals on four shots and was pulled from the game.

What it means: The Blackhawks and Wild played in some tight games during the regular season, and that carried over into their first game of the playoffs. Two of the teams’ three regular-season games were decided by one goal. Both were also two of the top teams in the league in one-goal games. The Blackhawks were 19-3-5 in one-goal games in the regular season, and the Wild were 13-5-3. The Wild proved they’re not going to allow the Blackhawks to roll through the first round. The Wild kept themselves in the game most of the night by getting in the way of the Blackhawks’ shots. The Wild blocked 21 shots. The Blackhawks played in five overtime games in the first round last season and two in the opening round in 2011. Eight of the Blackhawks’ last nine playoff games dating back to 2011 have gone to overtime.

What’s next: Game 2 of the series will be held in Chicago on Friday. The series will then move to Minnesota for the following two games.

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell tweeted at 6:30 a.m Tuesday, "This is where boys turn into men playoff time. #gameone."

Bickell was sharing with his 29,000-plus followers his excitement for Tuesday's Game 1 of the Blackhawks-Minnesota Wild series, but his tweet was also in a way a message to himself. Bickell has excelled in the playoffs the past two seasons, and he's out to do so again this year.

Bickell has scored as many goals as any Blackhawks player in the playoffs in the past two seasons. With four goals, he's tied for the team lead with Michael Frolik, Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp. Bickell scored two goals in six games in the 2012 playoffs and had two goals and two assists in seven games in the 2011 playoffs.

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CHICAGO -- Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo had no problem stating his game plan to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in their first-round series that begins on Tuesday, but he understands the execution isn't as easy.

"It's pretty simple, we've got to be great at every aspect of our game, every player of our team," Yeo said after Tuesday's morning skate at the United Center. "The depth of their lineup, the strength of their game in all situations, there's no room for error on our part. That's obviously a tough challenge, but at the same time we like to think that when we've been sort of faced with those situations and when we've gone up against teams like that, it's helped to sharpen our focus, and we felt we've performed well in those situations."

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CHICAGO -- Minnesota Wild forward Jason Pominville will not play against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round series on Tuesday.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane unveiled the return of his playoff mullet, which includes three lines shaved on each side of his head, following Tuesday's morning skate in preparation for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.

"I think it's fun," Kane said. "I think it's good for a laugh or two. It's something that's a little bit of a tradition since the start of the playoffs. I've had some fun with it, and I think a lot of people who follow the Blackhawks have had some fun with it, too. That's what it's really for."

The 24-year-old Kane began the tradition of shaping his hair into a mullet earlier in his career because he was unable to grow a playoff beard like his teammates. The mullet drew plenty of attention during the Blackhawks' run to the 2010 Stanley Cup. He did it again in 2011 when the Blackhawks lost in the first round, and then he opted to grow a beard last season, which also ended with a first-round exit.

"I think I'm just going to try and grow the beard as well as I can," Kane said last season. "I'm a little older now, and I can do a little bit better than a couple years ago. I'll try to go with that. I don't think I'm going to do the mullet. It didn't really work last year, and the team has been playing well as of late so I didn't want to change up too much."

Kane won't be the only Blackhawks player sporting a mullet during this season's playoffs. Kane also got rookie forward Brandon Saad to do it. Saad was the first to get into the barber's chair and had two lines shaved on each side of his head.

"It's something he was talking about doing, and I said I'd do it with him," Saad said. "It wasn't too much convincing. It was something we just figured we'd do together. … We got the lines put together in too. I think he's got three, and I got two. I got to earn my stripes still so. I don't know. It's something fun we'll do, though."