ESPN

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."

(Read full post)

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.

(Read full post)

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.

(Read full post)

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 -- 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.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks got by during the regular season without consistent power-play production.

They’re not so sure they can succeed in the playoffs without it.

One of the main reasons for the Blackhawks’ fear of lacking a strong play at this time of year is what happened in last season’s playoffs. The Blackhawks went 1-for-19 on the power play against the Phoenix Coyotes and suffered three one-goal losses on their way to being eliminated in six games.

“Special teams, we know we have to be better than the last time we played Phoenix last year,” Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa said on Monday. “If we don’t score on the power play, we need at least to get the momentum. Momentum is huge in the playoffs.”

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks view this season's playoffs as a way of redeeming themselves from first-round exits the past two years.

"I think obviously even after the Vancouver series two years ago we were frustrated with the way things ended up," Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said on Monday. "Now two years removed, we don't think we can be hungrier to have success. I think we just need to show that in our game."

The Blackhawks are focused on their upcoming first-round series, which begins Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. But with so many players having experienced the last two seasons which ended with first-round losses to the Phoenix Coyotes in 2012 and the Canucks in 2011, they certainly haven't forgotten about what happened.

(Read full post)

ST. LOUIS -- As his team returned to the bench to start the third period of Saturday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues, coach Joel Quenneville stayed in the Chicago Blackhawks’ dressing room, watching television.

He wanted to see the final minute of the Minnesota Wild’s victory at the Colorado Avalanche, which clinched eighth place for the Wild and earned them a trip to Chicago for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

When Quenneville got back to the bench, he informed his players who they would be playing beginning this week.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- The only time Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford allowed himself to speak about the future this year was just before the season.

Coming off a 2011-12 season in which he received a bulk of the blame for the Blackhawks’ first-round playoff exit to the Phoenix Coyotes, Crawford acknowledged he was out to prove something this season.

“I feel like I need to kind of redeem myself a little bit,” Crawford said during training camp. “I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and finally it’s here, so I’m getting excited and ready to go.”

That was much pretty much the end of Crawford addressing his mission for the 2013 season. From the season opener against the Los Angeles Kings to the final regular-season home game on Friday, Crawford hasn’t turned his focus away from what’s just ahead of him.

And so far, Crawford’s season-long plan has worked to near perfection. With Friday’s 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames, Crawford improved to 19-5-5 on the season and lowered his goals-against average to 1.94 and save percentage to. 926. He’s tied for third in the league in goals-against average and ranks fifth in save percentage

“Just playing in the moment,” Crawford explained on Friday. “We haven’t gotten ahead of ourselves all year. Now’s not the time do that. We feel good right now. We’re just focused on what we have at the task at hand. We still have another game [Saturday.] We can’t start getting complacent or taking things lightly. We got to keep the same pace and carry into the playoffs.”

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland (lower-body injury) and goaltender Ray Emery (lower body) will miss Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames and are considered day to day, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Quenneville also said neither would travel for Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks recalled defenseman Ryan Stanton and eight other players from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL on Friday.

The 23-year-old Stanton had three goals, 22 assists and a plus-16 rating in 73 games with the IceHogs this season. He was named the IceHogs' best defenseman. He has not appeared in an NHL game.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville believes Stanton earned a chance with the team based on his season in Rockford. Quenneville is uncertain if Stanton will play Friday against the Calgary Flames, but he expects him in the lineup for Saturday's game against the St. Louis Blues.

"I thought he had an excellent start to the season," Quenneville said. "We got to see him play a number of games down there. His consistency, his positioning, effectiveness of how he defended his gap, very efficient in his own end. I thought offensively he complemented the team game with first-pass crispness. I just think overall he really evolved over the last year."

The Hawks also recalled forwards Jimmy Hayes, Jeremy Morin, Brandon Pirri and Ben Smith, defensemen Adam Clendening, Shawn Lalonde and Steve Montador, and goaltender Henrik Karlsson.

(Read full post)

EDMONTON -- While not the trophy they originally had their sights on, it’s one the Chicago Blackhawks will definitely take en route to the ultimate prize.

The Blackhawks on Wednesday clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

By posting the league’s best record, the Blackhawks will have home-ice advantage throughout the NHL playoffs.

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- In a season where Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane hasn’t had the luxury of skating with consistent linemates, he has been more consistent than anyone offensively on the Blackhawks. His linemates have often changed from game to game, but he’s continued to rack up points and still ranks among the league’s leaders in goals and assists.

“I’ve always been a guy who doesn’t think it matters who you play with,” said Kane, who leads the Blackhawks and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 51 points. “I think as long as you’re working hard, you’re supporting each other, trying to make the right plays and simple plays, you’re going to have success. That’s what I’ve tried to stress to either one of my linemates.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville’s plan entering the season was utilize Kane alongside Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland on the second line. Quenneville has been able to execute that plan in just 18 games. Because of various injuries, Sharp and Bolland have combined to miss 28 games.

In their place, Quenneville has mixed and matched a variety of linemates with Kane. Kane has started games with 10 different pairings and skated with nine different players on the second line.

Aside from the 18 games with Bolland and Sharp, Kane has started nine games with Bolland and Jimmy Hayes, seven games with Sharp and Marcus Kruger, three games with Bolland and Kruger, two games with Kruger and Daniel Carcillo, one game with Bolland and Michael Frolik, one game with Bolland and Carcillo, one game with Bolland and Bryan Bickell, one game with Sharp and Andrew Shaw and one game with Bolland and Viktor Stalberg.

Despite all the changes, Kane’s play hasn’t fluctuated. He’s recorded a point in 33 of his 44 games this season. He once went three games without a point and once two games. Other than that, he’s bounced back six times with a point after not having one the game before.

Kane has had two eight-game point streaks and another of five games. He had 10 points in seven games in January, 14 points in 13 games in February, 18 points in 14 games in March and currently has nine points in 10 games in April. He started April off slow, but has registered five points in his last three games.

“I think there’s been some injuries obviously to both of my linemates,” said Kane, who has 21 goals and 30 assists. “There’s been certain guys who have played well in those roles, certain guys I have kind of clicked off with. I know it’s changed a little bit, but for me, personally, just try to work hard, find my game where it was at the beginning of the season and get back to that level.”

Quenneville has been impressed with Kane from the start of the season to the end of it. Quenneville recently said he thought Kane and Jonathan Toews were worthy of Hart Memorial Trophy consideration.

“I think all year long he’s been productive,” Quenneville said of Kane last week. “That line has a lot of different looks on it be it your centerman, be it your left winger. He’s played [with] some different [lines.] He keeps doing his thing.

“It seems like he’s got the puck a lot. He’s a threat. He gives the opponent something to be concerned about when he’s on the ice. When you got that 1-2 punch [in lines,] I think that makes us a different type of team.”

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks' result -- a 3-2 shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes -- was ultimately irrelevant Saturday.

While the Blackhawks would love to win every game, there's no shame in losing in a shootout at this point of the season, especially considering where the Blackhawks have put themselves atop the Western Conference standings.

What really matters this time of the season is how the Blackhawks are playing overall. And in the eyes of captain Jonathan Toews, the team is playing just how it wants leading into the final four games of the season.

"We're playing against some teams who are hungry, that are working really hard to get points to earn a playoff spot," Toews said. "We're making it as hard as we can on those teams. We've shown we can keep rolling four lines. We can kill penalties. Right now, the power play is back on track the last couple games. I'd say we got a lot of confidence in all the areas of game. That's exactly what we want to get going these last few games or so."

The Blackhawks have to be especially giddy about what the power play has done the past two games. After going scoreless on the power play in nine consecutive games, the Blackhawks have scored four power-play goals in their past two games. Brent Seabrook, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, scored both power-play goals Saturday.

The power play had been the one major concern heading into the playoffs, and now it seems it could benefit the Blackhawks in a tight playoff affair.

"It was good," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said of the power play. "I like the power play. I thought we had good motion, good movement, good options, thinking shot. Seabs' one-timer, Seabs in the slot, couple nice feeds as well. Nice to see some finished product. I think that definitely was a sore point for a stretch of games, nice to have something positive come out of it on the power-play side."

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- With the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference already secured, the only remaining regular-season achievement for the Chicago Blackhawks to attain is winning the Presidents’ Trophy, which is awarded to the team with the most points.

While the Blackhawks wouldn’t decline the trophy if they finish first, it’s not something they’re focusing on as they close out the regular season and prepare for the playoffs.

Heading into their game Saturday, the Blackhawks lead the NHL with 72 points through 43 games. The Penguins, who won on Saturday afternoon, are just behind them with 68 points through 44 games.

“It’s a cool thing that people talk about, but they won’t talk about it very long, I don’t think,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said recently of the Presidents’ Trophy. “It’s not that important. Of course, we want to be the best. We’ve put ourselves at the top throughout the entire season. We want to stay there. But that fact it’s called the Presidents’ Trophy, it doesn’t mean a whole lot to us. We’re preparing ourselves for the postseason, and that’s the most important thing right now.”

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville shared a similar feeling as his captain.

“We’d like to win that, but we’ll see,” Quenneville said prior to Saturday’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes. “Pittsburgh won again. We’ll do what we can do, but we’re looking to play that game we’re playing. We’re looking to win that game. We’re not looking too much further.”

The Blackhawks’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup likely won’t increase if they take the Presidents’ Trophy. Since the Presidents’ Trophy was created prior to the 1985-86 season, only seven teams that earned the Presidents’ Trophy won the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Last season, the Vancouver Canucks captured the Presidents’ Trophy and were upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.

“Hey, you saw last year the eighth seed,” Quenneville said. “Anyone can win. When you look at this year, when you look at the Western Conference’s top eight teams, you got to think everybody thinks they can win.”