With these two high-powered offenses, this series could have swung either way. And once again, against the way I thought it would go as Chicago avoided an early round exit and dominated the series against Minnesota. Both Milbury and McKenzie predicted a long series but a win for Chicago while Maggie now stands at 1-1. This series was fought by with offense as the winning team scored a minimum of 4 goals in each game.
In Game 1, Vincent Lecavalier continued his Art Ross form with 2 goals including the game winner. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, Rod Brind'Amour pulled a goal back before the period ended. The second turned nasty after Lecavalier scored to put the Hawks 3-1 up, when Andrew Brunette was given a major for boarding Dan Boyle into the endboards. However, Minnesota were spared on the powerplay as Jason Blake took a double minor for high-sticking after drawing blood from Brind'Amour.
Game 2 started the opposite from Game 1, with Minnesota taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. However, Gaborik's first of the playoffs and an Alfredsson powerplay goal after a McCabe penalty tied things up going into the third. McCabe appeared to make amends for his penalty by restoring Minnesota's lead just 23 seconds into the third period. But an Andrei Markov goal 8 minutes from the end and Lecavalier's powerplay goal 19 seconds from the buzzer gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
Game 3 was a series of tied periods between the two teams, after the first it was 1-1 on goals by Alfredsson and Smyth. After the second it was 2-2 on goals by Kozlov and Volchenkov. In the third it looked like Minnesota was going to grab a much needed win but after Brind'Amour put the Wild up 4-3, the Hawks pulled their goalie and Brett Clark scored the equalizer with 7 seconds left. A defensive mistake allowed Vermette to sneak in behind the defense and score on DiPietro.
Game 4 was do or die for the Wild, down 3-0 in the series they needed a hero. They got one in Rod Brind'Amour, 5 points in the game along with a Chris Clark hat-trick gave the Wild a huge 7-0 win. DiPietro who had been suspect for a few of the goals in the previous three games stood on his head in the 4th game with a 26 save shutout.
If a person thought that Chicago had run out of breath or that Minnesota used up all their goals in Game 4, they were surprised in Game 5. An 8-7 win, almost unheard of in the playoffs ended any playoff hopes of Minnesota. After Alfredsson opened the scoring, 4 goals by the Wild, including 3 in less than 3 minutes seemed to secure the game for the Wild. However, Alfredsson 2nd indicated Chicago's will to fight back and in the second period they scored 5 times on 18 shots, chasing DiPietro from the game. Though just 35 seconds after they chased DiPietro, Backstrom was chased as well. Though Minnesota outscored Chicago 2-1 in the third the damage had been done and Chicago are now through to the next round.
Three Stars of the Series
1. Rod Brind'Amour, 5 goals, 8 assists, +5, 2 powerplay goals, 11 hits. I predicted Brind'Amour would be key in this series and he was. However, even though dominating the ice whenever he was on couldn't stop the Hawks alone. Despite this, he's named #1 for both teams in this series.
2. Vincent Lecavalier, 3 goals, 4 assists, 2 game winners. Lecavalier had the two game winning goals in the first two key games in Chicago. Continuing his strong play from the regular season, Lecavalier led the Hawks with 7 points in 5 games.
3. Daniel Alfredsson, 5 goals, 1 assist, 25 shots. Leading the Hawks in shots and goals, Alfredsson providing the Hawks with some timely secondary scoring. Including a hat-trick in Game 5. His strong all-round play, +3 rating, secured the #3 star in this series.
Scapegoat of the Series
DiPietro, Backstrom, Holmqvist and Grahame. No matter what these goalies did, they couldn't do what they should have been doing, stopping the puck. DiPietro was the best goalie out of the lot, a GAA of 3.86 and a SV% of .880, if that's the best then Chicago need to improve their defensive play in a big way or else they're going out.
