Dallas Stars vs. Chicago Blackhawks
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 11, 2016
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), CSN Chicago
PREDICTION: Blackhawks 3, Stars 2

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks struggled badly against the Dallas Stars last season as they lost four out of five games.

This season has been a different story. The Blackhawks have won each of their first two contests against the Stars, and they will try to make it three for three on Sunday night.

However, Chicago (17-8-4) will not be at full strength this time around when it hosts Dallas (11-12-6). The Blackhawks will play without top goaltender Corey Crawford (emergency appendectomy) and captain Jonathan Toews (upper-body injury), and the status of defenseman Brent Seabrook is uncertain because of an upper-body injury.

The Stars also have been plagued by injuries this season, but they could welcome back forward Jiri Hudler (illness) and defenseman Johnny Oduya (lower-body injury) against Chicago. Hudler has not played since Nov. 1, and Oduya has been sidelined since Nov. 19.

Hudler scored 47 goals over the past two seasons but has appeared in only four games since signing a free agent contract with Dallas during the offseason.

“We know what Jiri brings,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “He’s creative. He can make plays.”

Ruff’s squad could use another playmaker. The Stars are 2-4-1 in their past seven games, including a 4-2 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

A tough task awaits the Stars as they prepare for the second game of a back-to-back set. Chicago is 11-2-3 on home ice, while Dallas is 4-8-4 on the road.

Both of the Blackhawks’ wins against Dallas this season have been decided by one goal. Chicago earned a 3-2 win Nov. 5 in Dallas and a 4-3 overtime win the next night in Chicago. On the season, the Blackhawks are 11-4-4 in one-goal games.

Goaltender Scott Darling is set to make his fifth straight start in place of Crawford for the Blackhawks. Darling is 5-2-2 with a 2.23 goals-against average this season, and he has posted a stellar .950 save percentage (115 saves on 121 shots on goal) in his last four starts.

The Stars have not announced whether Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi will start in net. Lehtonen allowed three goals on 21 shots on Saturday against the Flyers.

Both goaltenders have started once against Chicago this season. Niemi gave up three goals on 32 shots Nov. 5, and Lehtonen surrendered four goals on 33 shots the following day.

Chicago is looking to break out of a slump on offense. The team led by Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane has been limited to zero or one goals in three of the past four games.

Seabrook is not known as a goal scorer, but his possible return could steady the blue line. The 31-year-old took part in practice on Saturday afternoon for the first time since his injury, which happened Tuesday night when he fell into the boards and appeared to hit his head.

“(Seabrook) skating today was a good sign, and he felt pretty good,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, who did not say whether the defenseman would face Dallas.

During a post-practice interview with reporters, Seabrook tried to steady his breathing.

“I felt really good in practice,” Seabrook said. “The lungs at the end burn a little bit (working with assistant coach Mike Kitchen), but I’m just trying to get ready to roll. … It was weird not practicing and sitting in the rink watching the guys play. That’s something I don’t want to make a habit of, for sure.”

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The Blackhawks kept that buffer over St. Louis, which kept up its strong home form with a narrow win against Tampa Bay.

Among other notable results, Philadelphia won in overtime at Ottawa, while Jack Eichel led Buffalo to victory over the New York Rangers.

New Jersey came close to victory at Chicago, as Mike Cammalleri hit the post in overtime, and moments later Hossa’s shot through traffic from high in the slot got past Devils goaltender Cory Schneider to clinch the win. It was Hossa’s team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Travis Zajac had three goals for New Jersey, including the tying score at 8:49 of the third.

Artem Anisimov, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Marcus Kruger scored in the second period for the Blackhawks.

St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko scored three goals as the Blues beat Tampa Bay 5-4, extending their run of home wins to six.

Tarasenko, who leads the team with 13 goals, recorded his fourth career hat trick. He scored twice in the game’s opening 9:37 to stake his team to a 2-0 lead.

Kevin Shattenkirk scored the other two goals for St. Louis.

Cedric Paquette scored twice for the Lightning, which has lost four straight games, while Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson also netted.

Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux scored his second goal of the game 40 seconds into overtime, sending the Flyers to a 3-2 win at Ottawa.

Michael Del Zotto also scored for the visitors.

Mike Hoffman and Ryan Dzingel scored for Ottawa, which missed a chance to make up ground on Atlantic Division leader Montreal.

Buffalo’s Jack Eichel scored twice in the third period, lifting the Sabres over the Rangers 4-3.

Eichel, who missed the first 21 games with an ankle sprain. Upon his return, he had a goal and an assist in Buffalo’s win in Ottawa on Tuesday and has recorded a point in seven straight games dating to last season.

Johan Larsson and Brian Gionta also scored for Buffalo.

Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash and Marc Staal scored for the Rangers.

Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, leading the Penguins over Dallas 6-2.

Crosby scored his league-leading 16th goal in the second period and assisted on Conor Sheary’s sixth as Pittsburgh scored three goals in the final 4 minutes. Eric Fehr had the 100th goal of his career and Patric Hornqvist scored on the power play.

Tyler Seguin and Devin Shore scored for Dallas. Antti Niemi, playing in his 400th career game, stopped 34 shots.

Edmonton’s Mark Letestu and Leon Draisaitl each had two goals and an assist, powering the Oilers to a 6-3 win at Winnipeg.

The Oilers went 3 for 4 on the power play, including Letestu’s goals. Patrick Maroon and Benoit Pouliot also scored.

Jets rookie Patrik Laine had two power-play goals to lift his overall season total to 15, one behind Crosby. Bryan Little also scored for Winnipeg.

Florida’s Aleksander Barkov scored on a breakaway 2:04 into overtime, lifting the Panthers to a 2-1 win over Detroit and giving interim coach Tom Rowe his first victory with the team.

New York’s Shane Prince, Brock Nelson and Jason Chimera produced three goals in less than 4 1/2 minutes of the third period, leading the Islanders past Washington 3-0.

Boston’s Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak scored in a shootout, lifting the Bruins past Carolina 2-1.

Anaheim’s Ondrej Kase scored his first NHL goal as the Ducks won 3-1 at Vancouver.

Columbus’ Boone Jenner scored the winning goal with 11:03 remaining in a 3-2 victory over Colorado.

Los Angeles’ Trevor Lewis scored off a turnover with 4:05 left and the Kings hung on to edge Arizona 4-3.

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TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

CONFERENCE FINALS: Lightning beat New York Rangers in 7. Blackhawks beat Anaheim Ducks in 7.

SEASON SERIES: Tampa Bay won 1-0-1.

STORY LINE: The Blackhawks are on the brink of a coronation as the greatest team of their era if they can claim their third Stanley Cup title in six years, while the Lightning hope to establish themselves as the best young team in hockey by knocking off the big dogs. Chicago’s championship experience and Tampa Bay’s youthful hunger provide a fascinating contrast in the first playoff meeting for these teams, both still buzzing from impressive road wins in Game 7 of their respective conference finals. Chicago stars Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith are in position to cement their legacy after grinding through the West bracket, while the Lightning have already persevered through 20 postseason games to earn their franchise’s first trip to the Final since 2004. Tampa Bay was the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, but has played remarkable defensive games in the postseason, capped by two shutout victories at Madison Square Garden to close out the conference title. Chicago is the NHL’s second-best defensive team in the regular season, but doesn’t struggle for scoring – particularly not when Toews and Kane play on the same line, as they did to finish off the Ducks. Both powerhouses have weaknesses: Tampa Bay’s lineup is extraordinarily front-loaded, with its top six forwards accounting for 45 of its 55 postseason goals, while the Blackhawks’ lack of defensive depth was exposed in the Western Conference finals as they largely relied on just four blueliners.

TAMPA BAY’S KEY PLAYER: Steven Stamkos. The 25-year-old captain has the biggest showcase of his career playing opposite Toews in a compelling clash of elite Canadian forwards. Stamkos has an enviable list of accomplishments in seven NHL seasons, including a couple of 50-goal seasons. But leading a team to a championship is what makes the difference between good players and the best – like Toews.

CHICAGO’S KEY PLAYER: Duncan Keith. The Blackhawks’ top defenseman was on the ice for a jaw-dropping 230 minutes, 48 seconds in the seven-game win over Anaheim, both because of his tireless brilliance and because Chicago coach Joel Quenneville clearly didn’t trust his third defensive pairing. If Keith plays a similarly commanding role in the Final, this postseason will be among his greatest achievements and should make him a front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

GAME 1: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

PREDICTION: Blackhawks in 6.

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Van Riemsdyk is coming back from surgeries on his left knee in November and his right wrist in April. The rookie had one assist in 18 games with Chicago.

Van Riemsdyk skated at the United Center on Friday. His last NHL game was on Nov. 16, but Quenneville did not rule him out for later in the series against the Ducks.

Quenneville says van Riemsdyk will ”need a few days out here. We’ll get an evaluation and go from there.”

Game 4 is Saturday night in Chicago. Anaheim leads 2-1.

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Patrick Kane scored in the first period, but the Blackhawks were shut out the rest of the way in a 2-1 loss to Anaheim on Thursday night that gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

”It’s frustrating that we lost, and frustrating because we had some opportunities whether it was the power play or different chances and stuff that would get me back in the game,” Kane said. ”Other than that, we knew it was going to be a tough series. This is a good team. It’s tough to lose, especially at home, but we’ve got to regroup.”

Frederik Andersen made 27 saves and Simon Despres scored his first career playoff goal as top-seeded Anaheim bounced back quite nicely from Tuesday night’s triple-overtime loss that included two power-play goals for Chicago. Patrick Maroon also scored for the Ducks, and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.

”This was a character win,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Blackhawks outshot the Ducks 10-5 in the third, but couldn’t get the tying goal as Andersen continued his great run in the playoffs. He has allowed just 23 goals in the Ducks’ 10-2 start to the postseason.

Anaheim finished with 27 blocked shots, compared to nine for Chicago. Game 4 is Saturday night at the United Center.

”We’ve learned as much as we can from the way we’re playing and we’ll try to be better the next game,” forward Patrick Sharp said. ”I think we can be better winning battles, getting to the net. When you have a tough time putting pucks on the net, you here the same quotes from us, and we need to start applying ourselves.”

Two days after Chicago’s 3-2 victory in Anaheim, the Blackhawks shuffled their lineup while the Ducks went with the same group for Game 3. Forwards Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom were active, replacing Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen in a bit of surprise.

Versteeg and Nordstrom were mostly quiet in their first action since the first round against Nashville.

”We just wanted to get some fresh legs in there,” coach Joel Quenneville said. ”We felt that Steeger had never played over a long stretch in the last series, we wanted to get him back in there. You know, tough game the other day, travel. We wanted to bring some new guys in.”

Ryan Kesler’s two holding penalties contributed to 9:18 of power-play time for the Blackhawks, but the Ducks’ penalty killers kept most of Chicago’s opportunities to the outside and Andersen stood his ground during a couple of goalmouth scrums.

”Yeah, we just sharpened up on the PK,” Andersen said. ”We weren’t satisfied with what we did the last game. That was huge for this group coming off a tough loss where we gave up two goals on the PK. We wanted to be better today.”

The teams were tied at 1 before Despres drove a pass from Getzlaf past Corey Crawford from the right wing with 55 seconds left in the second. Crawford finished with 25 saves.

Despres came over in a trade with Pittsburgh in March.

”It’s been a good run so far,” Despres said. ”We haven’t done anything yet. We want to get to the top. It’s a team game and the team has been playing very well so far.”

While the Blackhawks struggled on the power play, the Ducks capitalized on their only chance with the man advantage. With Marian Hossa in the box for holding, Maroon tipped Hampus Lindholm’s long slap shot past Crawford at 12:55 of the first for a 1-0 lead.

Anaheim then killed off a double minor on Jakob Silfverberg for high-sticking, but Chicago tied it at 1 when Kane converted a spinning backhander in the final minute of the first. It was the first point of the series for Kane, who had seven goals and six assists in the first two rounds.

The Ducks made a big push at the start of the second, recording eight of the first nine shots on goal. The Blackhawks started to play better midway through the period, but Andersen had a nice stop on an open look for Jonathan Toews at 9:17, and then had an outstanding glove save on Brandon Saad with 1:24 to go.

NOTES: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game. … Kane moved into a tie with Steve Larmer for fourth on the franchise list with 45 career playoff goals.

—

Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap

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St. Louis at Chicago
When: 7:30 PM ET, Sunday, April 5, 2015
Where: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
PREDICTION: Blackhawks 3, Blues 2
Join BetOnline and get up to $1,000 BONUS

Oddsmakers currently have the Blackhawks listed as 150-moneyline favorites versus the Blues, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

Chicago won its last outing, a 4-3 result against the Sabres on April 3. Bettors who backed the Blackhawks at -290 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (7) sent OVER bettors to the payout window.

Marian Hossa is riding a four-game point streak during which he has scored one goal and set up four others. The veteran tallied twice in Chicago’s 4-2 victory over St. Louis on Feb. 8, igniting a string of three consecutive two-goal performances. Corey Crawford owns a sizzling 12-2-3 record versus the Blues and his next victory – his 33rd – will match a career high for wins, which was set during the 2010-11 season.

Team record: 48-24-6
Current Streak: won 4 straight games.
Chicago is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Chicago is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago’s last 6 games at home
Chicago is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing St. Louis

In their last action, St. Louis was a 7-5 winner on the road against the Stars. Bettors on St. Louis at -105 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (12) sent OVER bettors home happy as well.

Patrik Berglund tallied twice versus the Stars and has three goals and an assist in his last two contests while T.J. Oshie is riding high on a four-game point streak which consists of five assists. St. Louis also could receive a boost with the potential return of Alex Steen, who participated in an optional skate on Saturday after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. Steen, who is the Blues’ second-leading scorer, has been held off the scoresheet in all three meetings with the Blackhawks this season.

Team record: 48-23-7
St. Louis is 14-6 SU in its last 20 games on the road
St. Louis is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games when playing Chicago
St. Louis is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago

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Whatever it was, the Chicago Blackhawks finally found that extra gear they talked about for days.

Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 20 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 in the opener of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night.

“Much better from our prior series,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought what we’re talking about in our team game was in place. Had some pace, had some speed, zone time, and I thought everybody contributed.”

In the wake of Chicago’s five-game victory over Minnesota in the first round, Quenneville talked about a higher level of intensity, and each of his biggest stars echoed his comments. The response was a dominant final two periods in the Blackhawks’ first game in the Western Conference semifinals since they won the Stanley Cup in 2010.

Marian Hossa had the opening goal in the first, and Patrick Sharp finished with an empty-netter and two assists to give him nine points in the postseason.

“I thought it was our best game of the playoffs, no question,” Sharp said.

Jimmy Howard had 38 stops in a terrific performance, but Detroit still lost to rival Chicago for the eighth straight time dating to last season.

“I think in the first it was pretty even, but then I think in the second and third they looked like they had a little more energy than we did,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “It’s going to be nice to have a day off tomorrow and practice and then looking forward to Game 2.”

The series resumes on Saturday at the United Center.

The 75th all-time playoff game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings was tied at 1 after two periods, and Howard made a great stop on a breakaway by Dave Bolland 4 1/2 minutes into the third.

Chicago kept working and went in front to stay on a heady play by Oduya. He drifted in from the point and sent Sharp’s pass past Howard on the glove side with 12 minutes left.

“Getting the win is the only thing that actually matters,” Oduya said. “Like I said, anyone could have scored that goal at that point. We had a lot of chances, and I’m lucky I got it in there.”

Kruger then jumped on a loose puck and sent a backhander into the upper right corner to make it 3-1. That was more than enough for Crawford, who caught a break when Damien Brunner’s rebound attempt went off the crossbar and straight down before Brent Seabrook swept it away with about three minutes left.

The opener of the 16th playoff series between the Original Six teams was the first game for Chicago since it eliminated Minnesota last Thursday. Detroit closed out Anaheim with a 3-2 win in Game 7 on Sunday night, taking the final two games of the series against the second-seeded Ducks.

Despite the long break, there was no sign of rust for the Blackhawks. The Red Wings skated right with Chicago at the start, but they couldn’t keep up at the end of the game and coach Mike Babcock said they were looking forward to a day off.

“We’re not trying to take anything away from them,” he said. “They were better than us. The score tonight was more than fair as far as I’m concerned. They were better.”

The Blackhawks struck first in the first playoff game between the teams since Detroit won the 2009 Western Conference final. With Gustav Nyquist in the box for hooking, Sharp forced a turnover along the boards and Jonathan Toews sent the puck to Hossa, who one-timed it past Howard at 9:03.

Detroit needed less than two minutes to respond, tying it when Brunner poked in a rebound for his third career playoff goal. The rookie center also contributed three assists in the first round against the Ducks.

The Blackhawks killed off two power plays created by penalties on Andrew Shaw. They killed off another one when Nick Leddy was sent off for delay of game in the second period, making them a perfect 20 for 20 on the penalty kill in the postseason and sinking Detroit to 1 for 18 on power plays against Chicago, including the regular season.

“We know that we’re a much better team than this,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “The second and third period were not nearly good enough. We know we’re better than this, so we have to find to get better here for Game 2.”

Game notes

It was the 800th game between the teams. … Detroit F Justin Abdelkader was shaken up after he collided with Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival in the first period. He was helped to the bench after a few moments down on the ice, but eventually returned to the game. … Blackhawks F Viktor Stalberg was a healthy scratch. Quenneville said it was a “coach’s decision” and Stalberg could get back on the ice at any point. … Toews and Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings joined Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins as finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. … Chicago won eight of the previous 15 playoff series against Detroit.

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The NHL is increasing its popular outdoor games, which in the past had been limited to on or around New Year’s Day. There likely will be six next season.

Toronto and Detroit will meet at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Jan 1, the Anaheim Ducks will play the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 5 and the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1.

The games at Yankee Stadium were announced Wednesday. A game between Ottawa and Vancouver at BC Place on March 2 also is being planned.

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Bergeron, who won last year, was the NHL’s top face-off man this season at 62.1 percent. He ranked sixth overall and led the Bruins in plus-minus with a plus-24 rating and played an average of 2:12 per game with his team short-handed.

“It’s not something I really worry about, to be honest,” Bergeron said Wednesday after the team’s practice at TD Garden as it prepares for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers “It’s a nice honor just to be nominated with these two guys, they’re great players. To be a part of it is great, but at the same time there are a lot more things to worry about. We have a game tomorrow and that’s all I need to focus on right now.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien believes his assistant captain should win his second consecutive Selke Trophy.

“I can tell you right now, I would be extremely disappointed and would’ve been vocal about it had he not been nominated,” Julien said. “This guy here is so good at both ends of the ice, and he keeps proving it year after year. There’s not too many guys in this league that can do what Patrice does.”

Toews, a Selke finalist for the second time, finished third in the NHL in plus-minus with a career-high plus-28 rating and placed second in the NHL in face-off winning percentage with 59.9 percent.

“It’s a good feeling for sure. It’s definitely an honor and something special. You look at the other two players nominated and its an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as those two guys so pretty cool feeling,” he said.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Toews “had an oustanding year.”

“You can mention him in Hart [Trophy] you can mention him in Selke as well. … Very deserving. We think he did a great job in that area.”

Datsyuk, a three-time winner, tied with Toews for the league lead in takeaways with 56, topped the Red Wings in plus-minus at plus-21 and won 55 percent of faceoffs.

“You see some of the stuff he does and you just can’t believe it,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall told The Detroit News.

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Chicago is moving on in the postseason for the first time since the championship run in 2010, and will face either San Jose or Detroit if the Red Wings get past Anaheim.

“We knew we hadn’t done it in two years,” Hossa said. “Minnesota, they still have a great team and are missing some players. We found a way. Now we get ready for the next round.”

The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them.

They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team.

Now, they’re eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good.

Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wild’s Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later.

Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford.

Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and the Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this postseason, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents’ Trophy winners.

The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth.

The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1.

That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. And he also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasn’t sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start.

Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossa’s second goal. He also insisted the injury in Game 4 wasn’t a factor in Harding’s performance in this one.

“It wasn’t,” Yeo said. “I don’t want to pin this loss on Josh, either. Credit them and their team.”

There was also a question about Yeo’s job security after this loss. The Wild were widely considered Stanley Cup contenders after they gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But they never quite lived up to expectations.

“I can’t answer that,” Yeo said. “All I can say is if you want to look at it objectively, statistically, if you really want to look at it properly, then there’ve been a lot of improvements in our organization and our team. I feel that we’re going in the right direction.”

For a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one.

Moments after Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1.

Crawford, meanwhile, continued to erase doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason. That was a big question coming into this series after he let in several soft goals in last year’s first-round loss to Phoenix. He’s been nothing but solid in this series.

“He’s making saves that he needs to make and he’s making saves that he shouldn’t be making,” Sharp said. “When he does that, it breeds confidence throughout the lineup and it filters through everybody.”

He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0-for-15 in the first four games.

The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Hossa took a feed from Toews in the left circle and fired the puck between Harding’s glove and the post. The assist gave Toews his first point of the playoffs.

Kruger made it 2-0 when his wraparound deflected off Harding’s pad and into the net for his first career playoff goal.

Game notes

Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and G Ray Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although coach Joel Quenneville said they’re “real close.” Bolland said it’s 50-50 he would have been able to play if “it was do-or-die” for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. … Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks’ playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77.

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