With the NHL on pause and the World Championship tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Second City Hockey will look back at Blackhawks playoff games since 2010 with an “On this date in Blackhawks history” series.
Marian Hossa had two goals and an assist, and Corey Crawford made 21 saves for the Blackhawks to defeat the Wild 5-1 and win their 2013 first-round series 4-1.
The Blackhawks advanced to the second round for the first time since their 2010 championship season. Chicago lost in seven games to the Canucks and in six games to the Coyotes the previous two postseasons.
Marcus Kruger had a goal and an assist, and Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews each had two assists for Chicago, which was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Torrey Mitchell scored the lone goal for the Wild. Josh Harding allowed three goals on 18 shots in 26:26 then Darcy Kuemper made 13 saves in relief.
Toews grabbed Jonas Brodin’s backhand clearing attempt then dropped a pass back to the left face-off circle for Hossa, who fired it through Harding’s five-hole for a 1-0 lead at 15:39 of the first period.
Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound 3:19 into the second period, and Hossa chased Harding when he knocked in a rebound for a 3-0 lead at 6:26.
Mitchell cut the deficit to 3-1 at 10:11 with a one-timer from the slot off a feed from Kyle Broziak.
Andrew Shaw answered 35 seconds later for a 4-1 lead when Bryan Bickell’s shot went off the boards behind the net right to him for an easy shot past Kuemper. After failing to convert a 2-on-1 breakaway with Patrick Kane 34 seconds into the third period, Patrick Sharp lifted a rebound at the left of the net over a diving Kuemper for a power play goal at 6:04 for the 5-1 final.
Losses
The Blackhawks went 1-2 this past decade on May 9, with a 4-1 loss to the Canucks in Game 5 of the 2010 semifinal series and a 4-2 defeat to the Wild in Game 4 of the 2014 semifinal series.
In 2010, Kevin Bieksa had two goals and an assist and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for the Canucks to avoid elimination and force a Game 6 in Vancouver. Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Sedin and Kyle Wellwood each had two assists. Toews scored Chicago’s lone goal during the third period. Antti Niemi made 20 saves for the Blackhawks, who were 0-for-4 on the power play.
In 2014, Jared Spurgeon had a power-play goal and an assist to help the Wild even the series at 2-2. He assisted on Nino Niederreiter’s goal go-ahead goal at 7:12 of the second then scored his own 3:47 into the third. Ryan Suter had two assists, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 18 saves. Sharp and Michal Handzus scored for Chicago. Hossa had two assists, and Crawford made 27 saves.