It’s getting to be a bit of a broken record for the Minnesota Wild. Another playoff loss to Chicago, this one a disappointing 3-0 decision, and another game that sees them lose their starting goalie while their offense goes AWOL.
This time around Patrick Sharp scored twice while Brandon Bollig added a final tally in the third to lead the offense. Corey Crawford had a ho-hum night making 25 saves to earn the shutout. Wild backup netminder Darcy Kuemper made 15 saves on 17 shots in 40 minutes of relief work for the injured Josh Harding. Meanwhile, Harding stopped five out of six shots he saw before hurting his leg in a pileup with Jonathan Toews.
Chicago now heads home with a 3-1 series lead against a team with some major headaches in goal and little to no offense to speak of. Life seems pretty good for the Presidents’ Trophy winners.
Some talking points to kick around:
--- Jason Pominville’s return to action tonight didn’t do much to lift the team. He saw just 12:12 worth of ice time and had three shots on goal. It’s clear coach Mike Yeo was using him in offensive situations (like the power play) but he just couldn’t provide a spark.
--- Speaking of Minnesota’s power play, it’s horrendous. They went 0-6 with the man advantage and if they could do anything with it, they’d give the Blackhawks some kind of scare. Instead, it’s basically a two minute walk in the park for Chicago’s PK.
--- Dan Carcillo took a bad penalty early and finished the game playing just 3:55, the lowest ice time of any player in tonight’s game. What purpose does he serve again? Chicago has to have someone more productive than him on the roster.
--- FYI: Darcy Kuemper wasn’t flying solo after replacing Harding tonight. Niklas Backstrom suited up and took a seat in on the bench as the emergency goalie. How dicey would an injury to Kuemper have been?
Here are the highlights from tonight’s game:
