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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 -- Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom and defenseman Clayton Stoner did not practice on Thursday, increasing the possibility they will be unavailable for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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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 -- When Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom left the ice with an injury before the game started, Chicago Blackhawks fans probably expected an easy win over backup goalie Josh Harding.

Maybe the Blackhawks did, too.

The last time the Hawks faced Harding on Jan. 30, he was pulled from the game after two goals in the first seven minutes. Harding, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the fall, hasn't started a game since then, and played only twice.

But this is the playoffs, after all, and in the NHL it's often hard to tell the seeds apart, let alone the dominant goaltenders (read: Corey Crawford) from the benchwarmers.

That's why everyone loves the Stanley Cup playoffs. The game begins with a goalie change and ends with Bryan Bickell celebrating an overtime goal.

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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.”

Barry Melrose previews the Blackhawks' first-round series against the Wild -- a team he doesn't think will put up much of a fight.

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."

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.”

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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.

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Here's what you need to know about the Chicago Blackhawks' first-round opponent, the Minnesota Wild:

• The Wild sputtered into the playoffs. They went 5-8-1 and were outscored 41-25 in April. They scored more than two goals just twice in the month, were shut out three times and allowed four or more goals five times. They fought off the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot by winning two of their final three games. In between their two wins, the Wild lost 6-1 to the Edmonton Oilers.
  
  
• The Wild haven't appeared in the playoffs since the 2007-08 season. This will be their fourth playoff appearance in franchise history. They haven't advanced past the first round since the 2002-03 season.
  
  
• Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom has been as inconsistent as his team. He was pulled from three games in April. He's allowed three or more goals in seven of his last 14 games. But he also held the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche to one goal in two of his past three starts to help secure the playoff spot. He's been just as up-and-down against the Blackhawks this season. He replaced starting goaltender Josh Harding in the first period of the Wild's first meeting with the Blackhawks, and he stopped all 28 shots he faced in leading the Wild to a 3-2 shootout win. In their second game, Backstrom allowed four first-period goals and was pulled. In the final game of the series, he stopped 30 of 31 shots and the Wild lost, 1-0. He was 24-15-3 with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage on the season.
  
  
• The Wild are in the middle of the pack in most categories. They rank tied for 22nd in goals per game at 2.46, tied for 15th in goals-against per game at 2.60, 16th in power-play percentage at 17.9 and 18th in penalty-kill percentage at 80.7.
  
  
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  Hannah Foslien/Getty ImagesJonathan Toews was second in the league in faceoffs won this season, a stat the Hawks need him to replicate in the playoffs.
• One of the Wild's greatest strengths is their faceoff ability. They ranked third in the league with a 52.4 faceoff percentage. The Blackhawks and Wild were nearly even in faceoffs in their three games this season. The Blackhawks won 92 faceoffs, and the Wild won 89. Both teams have two players ranked among the top 25 in faceoff leaders.
  
  
• The Wild's offseason acquisitions of forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter -- two players the Blackhawks went after -- paid off this season. Parise led the Wild with 18 goals and 38 points. Suter had a team-high 28 assists and was third on the team with 32 points. The two players weren't at their best in April, however, when they combined for four goals and eight assists, after combining for 10 goals and 22 assists in March.
  
  
• Two of the three games between the Blackhawks and Wild this season were decided by one goal. The Blackhawks won 1-0 in regulation and the Wild won 3-2 in a shootout. Both teams excelled in close games all season. The Blackhawks were 19-3-5 with a .704 winning percentage in one-goal games, and the Wild were 13-5-3 with a .619 winning percentage. The Blackhawks ranked second in the league, and the Wild were sixth.
  
  
• Rookies Charlie Coyle, a 21-year-old forward, and Jonas Brodin, a 19-year-old defenseman, have been key to the Wild's success this season. Coyle has 14 points on the season and had four goals and three assists in April. Brodin is in the running for the Calder Memorial Trophy. He has two goals, nine assists, a plus-three rating, 60 blocked shots and 18 takeaways on the season.
  
  
• Forward Jason Pominville, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, helped the Wild in their playoff push. He had four goals and five assists in 10 games since being acquired. He is considered day-to-day after taking an elbow in the face recently.
  
  
• The Blackhawks and Wild made a trade in February 2010 that sent Kim Johnsson and the rights to Nick Leddy to the Blackhawks and defenseman Cam Barker to the Wild. Johnsson played eight games for the Blackhawks and was a free agent after the season. The 22-year-old Leddy has played in 176 games for the Blackhawks in the past three seasons. Barker finished the 2009-2010 season with the Wild and also played the 2010-2011 season with them before being bought out of his contract. He had 12 points in 71 games for the Wild.