For the third straight spring the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild will meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center for a 4-2 series win to advance to the second straight Western Conference Semifinals matchup against Chicago.
Last year, the Hawks dispatched the Wild in six games. The first five games in the series were won by the home team. Patrick Kane scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 to clinch the series in Minnesota.
The teams also met in the 2013 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Chicago won in five games.
The Hawks and Wild have met five times this season. Chicago won the first three in regulation and the Wild won the last two in regulation. The Hawks defeated the Wild 5-3 in Chicago on Dec. 16, 4-2 in Minnesota on Jan. 8 and 4-1 in Chicago on Jan. 11. The Wild defeated the Hawks 3-0 on Feb. 3 in Minnesota and 2-1 in Chicago on April 7.
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk started in net for both wins against the Hawks. He stopped 56 of 57 shots in the two games. He was 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .936 save percentage for the Wild in the regular season after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes in January.
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford was 2-2-0 and made 146 saves on 154 shots against the Wild this season. Crawford was in net against the Wild during the past two playoff series.
Like last year, the Hawks will hold home-ice advantage and the series will begin in Chicago. Dates and times have not yet been announced.
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