Blackhawks vs Wild, Game 1 : Game Day Numbers

The Blackhawks and Wild are all set to start the second playoffs series against each other in two years.

Chicago Blackhawks (4-2) vs Minnesota Wild (4-3)

8:30 PM CDT, United Center – Chicago, IL

TV : NBCSN

Radio : 720 AM WGN

Enemy Territory : Hockey Wilderness

Probable Blackhawks Lineup

Forwards

Bryan Bickell – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa

Patrick Sharp – Ben Smith – Patrick Kane

Brandon Saad – Marcus Kruger – Andrew Shaw

Brandon Bollig – Michal Handzus – Kris Versteeg

Defensive Pairings

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook

Johnny Oduya – Niklas Hjalmarsson

Nick Leddy – Michal Rozsival

Goaltender

Corey Crawford ((4-2, .935 Sv%, 1.98 GAA, 1 SO)

Here is a heat map of all goals against Corey Crawford from www.sportingcharts.com

Leading Scorers

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-
Jonathan Toews	6	3	4	7	4
Duncan Keith	6	2	5	7	5
Patrick Kane	6	3	3	6	6
Brent Seabrook	3	2	4	6	4
Andrew Shaw	6	2	2	4	0

Power Play

Regular Season: 19.5%

Sharp, Kane: 10 PPG; Toews, Shaw: 5 PPG; Leddy, Hossa: 4 PPG; Keith, Seabrook: 3 PPG

Playoffs: 15% (versus St. Louis Blues who had 85.7% PK% during the regular season)

Seabrook, Toews, Shaw: 1 PPG

Penalty Kill

Regular Season: 81.4%

Playoffs: 93.1% (versus St. Louis Blues who had 19.8% PP% during the regular season)

PPGA: 1

Possession Numbers

Season	FF% 5v5 Close	League Rank	FF% 5v5	League Rank
Regular Season	55.2	2nd	55.4	2nd
Playoffs	48.0	11th	48.7	11th

St. Louis Blues	FF% 5v5 Close	League Rank	FF% 5v5	League Rank
Regular Season	53.1	7th	53.7	4th
Playoffs	52.0	6th	51.3	7th

As you can see, the St. Louis Blues were among the best teams in the NHL during the regular season in terms of puck possession. Matched against another strong puck possession team, the Blackhawks, the playoff series resulted in both teams ending up near the middle of the pack in terms of rank.

These player usage charts from www.extraskater.com give us some insight into how the players fared during the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.

*how to read usage charts

Chicago Blackhawks Regular Season

St. Louis Blues Regular Season

Chicago Blackhawks Playoffs Round 1

St. Louis Blues Playoffs Round 1

Probable Wild Lineup

Forwards

Matt Moulson – Mikko Koivu – Charlie Coyle

Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville

Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Dany Heatley

Cody McCormick – Kyle Brodziak – Stephane Veilleux

Defensive Pairings

Ryan Suter – Jonas Brodin

Jared Spurgeon – Marco Scandella

Nate Prosser – Clayton Stoner

Goaltender

Ilya Bryzgalov (1-2, .826 save %, 4.25 GAA, 0 SO)

Goals Against Heat Map from www.sportingcharts.com

Leading Scorers

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
Zach Parise	7	3	7	10	0	6
Mikko Koivu	7	1	5	6	-1	8
Charlie Coyle	7	3	2	5	0	6
Kyle Brodziak	6	2	3	5	1	2
Mikael Granlund	7	2	3	5	3	2

Power Play

Regular Season: 17.9%

Parise: 14 PPG; Pominville: 7 PPG; Heatley, Suter, Brodin: 3 PPG

Playoffs: 14.3% (versus Colorado Avalanche who had 80.7% PK% during the regular season)

Coyle, Parise, Suter: 1 PPG

Penalty Kill

Regular Season: 78.8%

Playoffs: 88.0% (versus Colorado Avalanche who had 19.8% PP% during the regular season)

PPGA: 2

Possession Numbers

Season	FF% 5v5 Close	League Rank	FF% 5v5	League Rank
Regular Season	48.6	21st	49.0	23rd
Playoffs	61.3	1st	59.5	1st

Colorado Avalanche	FF% 5v5 Close	League Rank	FF% 5v5	League Rank
Regular Season	46.8	27th	46.6	27th
Playoffs	38.7%	16th	40.5	16th

The Avalanche were among the worst teams in the NHL during the regular season in terms of puck possession. It is no surprise that the Wild were able to vastly out possess the Avalanche during their playoff series. Minnesota ended up first in puck possession in the first round of the playoffs while their opponent held down the last spot.

Here are the usage charts from www.extraskater.com for the Wild and Avalanche.

Minnesota Wild Regular Season