Hawks Beat Wild And Take 2-0 Lead

After a non-impressive game one, the Chicago Blackhawks definitely played like a President Trophy winning team in game two. They beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.

Patrick Kane’s goal in the first period was waved off because he kicked it in while trying to get it on his stick’s blade. That did not stop them and Michael Frolik scored at 8:34 after the Hawk’s were given many scoring chances. They outshot the Wild 17-7 in the first.

“There was big emphasis on that, to play good in the first [period] and I think we did that,” said Kane. “There was a lot of talk about that, to get the pace going and to pick it up from where it was in Game 1 — because I don’t think we liked our pace in Game 1. That first period kind of set the tone for the game.”

Momentum appeared to be on the Wild’s side when the second period started because Jonathan Toews was called for a high-sticking penalty just 34 seconds into the period. However, the Hawks did not allow it to get to them. Instead, Frolik came out 15 seconds after the penalty and scored a short-handed goal to put the Hawks up 2-0.

The Wild managed to score with only a few minutes left in the second to put the game 2-1. It was not enough.

Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane stormed into the third period and never looked back. Sharp put his first goal in 3:44 into the third with a pass from Kane. The second one came after a sweet pass from Kane through traffic and Sharp shot it in with a slap shot into an empty net.

The Wild tried to climb back into the game when Marco Scandella scored a goal past Crawford with four minutes left in the game and then pulling Josh Harding for an extra skater. Bryan Bickell, the hero from game one, ended the game for good with an empty net goal.

The defense came through for Hawks goalie Corey Crawford. They managed to put 47 shots on Harding, his second start after Niklas Backstrom hurt himself during game one warm ups. Crawford stopped 26 out of 28 shots. The Hawks outshot the Wild in the third 17-6

Game three is Sunday at 3PM ET on NBC at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.