Everything Else

Holy Fiver: Hawks at Wild Preview/Long Jump

By 1205

Hawk Wrestler vs. EW_Ygritte_promo_shoot_a

PUCK DROP: 7pm 

TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN

OUT BEYOND THE WALL: Hockey Wilderness

Wild Stats

Wild War On Ice

It only seems like the 12th time the Hawks and Wild have played this year. But going back over the last four seasons, this will be the 34th time the two have met including playoffs. So yeah, it can seem like a bit of a slog by this point. This is also the first chance for the Wild to sweep the season series from the Hawks, and I honestly can’t remember the Hawks losing to any team five times without reply since Quenneville took over. Which is kind of hard to believe but then it’s hard to be a team like the Hawks this much.

Everything Else

4th Time’s the Charm: Wild at Hawks Preview/Sunday Dinner

By 1407

Zakk-Wylde-by-Ivan-Chopik vs. Hawk Wrestler

PUCK DROP: 7:30 Central

TV/RADIO: NBCSN, WGN Radio

GOIN’ CRAZY OUT BY DA LAKE DERE: Hockey Wilderness

Wild Stats

Wild War On Ice

The Hawks get to round out their tour of Central Division jobbers tonight with a home date against the Green and Red from the Twin Cities. Even though the Wild are going to have scrape and claw to just get the last playoff spot over the Avalanche, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been a total headache for the Hawks this season. It’s something you’d think the Hawks want to set straight, but at this time of year we’re never certain where the Hawks focus is.

Everything Else

Sweet Georgia Breezes – Safe, Cool, And Warm: Hawks at Wild Preview/Tailgate

By 1317

Hawk Wrestler vs. Zakk-Wylde-by-Ivan-Chopik

PUCK DROP: 2:30pm Central 

TV/RADIO: NBC, WGN Radio

GOPHER, EVERETT?: Hockey Wilderness

While it isn’t the last spike, however minuscule, on the EKG of the NHL season, today’s Stadium Series game is certainly the only “event” left on the Hawks’ schedule before the games really count. Matchups with Dallas and St. Louis will still matter a little more considering the standings (though Dallas’s goaltending will see what they can do about that), and next Sunday’s game against Washington will probably be more hyped. But those don’t take place outdoors, and today’s does. So at least it’s unique.

Everything Else

Moon Is Full Never Seems To Change: Wild 2 – Hawks 1

By 1167

Box Score

Event Summary

War On Ice

Natural Stat Trick

Ah, that old first home game after a trip bugaboo. It finally bit the Hawks, even though as McClure pointed out in the preview they’ve actually been pretty good in this situation over the years. Whatever the case, the Hawks’ legs/sense of give a shit/both weren’t quite where they needed to be and an inspired Wild team that was watching its season get awfully icky in a hurry was able to get a deserved win.

The tale for the Hawks is familiar to all by now, and you could write the next few sentences from memory. The Hawks only had a chance at points because of the same factors. Kane scores. The second line is the only consistently dangerous one. A couple moments of individual brilliance. The special teams come up big. Crawford holds them in for the stretch of game where they’re getting badly outplayed. Rinse. Repeat. But none of these are sustainable models for success, and it wasn’t tonight. It’s 25 games now, and the Hawks remain a one-line, one-pairing team. 25 games is bordering on not being a trend anymore.

Shall we go? Yes, let us go.

Everything Else

Three Steps Forward And Two Steps Back: Hawks 4 – Wild 5

By 1211 0

Box Score

Event Summary

War On Ice

Natural Stat Trick

Remember when Paula Abdul was like the center of all your middle school fantasies, which basically amounted to holding a girl’s hand? Ah, the innocence…

Oh right, hockey. It would appear the Hawks are going to try things in reverse this season, if I’m going to make wild conclusions after 11 games because we’ve got nothing else to do. Usually their sloppy, barely bothered effort on the 2nd of a back-to-back on the road comes in February or March. While the Wild did enough to let the Hawks back into this one, the Hawks did more to cost themselves the contest.

It’s rare you see the Hawks so sloppy at both blue lines tonight. So many shifts saw them failing to get the puck out when given the chance and having to cycle back and defend. How many times did they nearly get caught on a change because of misplays at the offensive blue line? Four, five? Maybe more? They just aren’t the most cohesive of units right now.

Zucker’s opener was a result of misplays from a couple Hawks on the boards. Ryan Carter scored off a rush when Kane didn’t quite know what to do when covering for TVR at the point and got caught. The last two goals sprang from Hawks d-men getting caught too far outside, leaving a lane through the middle that either ended in a goal (Spurgeon) or a scramble that did (Niederreiter). It will not make for a happy Q.

To it.

Everything Else

The Silence In This House, It Echoes Through This House: Hawks 1 – Wild 0 (Hawks lead series 3-0)

By 1398 0

Box Score

Event Summary

War On Ice

Natural Stat Trick

Seven straight Game 3 losses on the road, huh? Maybe the Hawks pulled this one out just because they were sick of that stat. Or maybe they pulled it out because they basically gave the Wild the Million Dollar Dream for the first 40 minutes, and then Crawford proved why he’s still the best goalie in this series for the 3rd (although he didn’t have to make that many highlight reel saves). Or maybe because Hjalmarsson. Oduya, Keith, and Seabrook were at or near their best. Or maybe all of the above. Still, this series kind of feels like the Hawks listened to all the chatter about how the Wild really meant business this time, and said, “Oh? Watch this.” And now they’ve got Minnesota’s nuts in a vice.

This one will go down in the end as a goalie win, but you don’t get through a deep run in the spring without a couple of those. The encouraging thing is that Crawford was aggressive, not getting too deep in his net and standing tall among the scrambles that took place in the 2nd and 3rd. He could have gotten caught a couple times early when he again dropped down too early and lost his net, but as the game went on that happened less and less, the prime examples being coming out to meet Granlund on his breakaway and stopping the Finn again late in the 3rd on a high rising shot. Also helped that Pominville once again lost his radar on where the net it. Most of all, Crow’s rebound control was superb, and that’s where the Wild really profit. Not so tonight.

Let’s go through the rest:

Everything Else

See A Little Light: Wild 1 – Hawks 4 (Hawks Lead 2-0)

By 1348 0

Box Score

Event Summary

War On Ice

Natural Stat Trick

Coming into this one, the main story was always going to be how Mike Yeo adjusted the way his troops went about playing this one, and would the d-men who all made mistakes in Game 1 leading to goals would tighten up or not. Yeo did change tack, and it was the Hawks’ d-men who certainly tightened up. Sadly for Minnehaha, Ryan Suter most certainly did not.

The Wild came into this one deciding to lean heavily on what they do best, and that is gobble up space in the neutral zone and keep things to the perimeter in their zone. While it wasn’t an out-and-out trap, it certainly was more conservative than they were in Game 1. On the surface, it makes total sense. As we said in the program tonight, when judging how things were going for each goalie in these playoffs, the Wild did seem more likely to win a 2-1 game than they do a 4-3 one.

Everything Else

Pour Me Another – Round 2 vs. Minnesota Preview: Lining It All Up

By 1337 0

Time to clean up the rest of this preview, with a brief glance at the special teams and then try and guess how it’s all going to go.

On the power play, the Wild have for years been terrible. That changed in the first round, and you can mostly pin that on the presence of Matt Dumba. The Wild went 4-for-12 in the series against St. Louis, which isn’t a lot of chances in a six-game series but certainly is enough power play goals. Dumba had one, and set up one or two more with the cannon he has from the point. It gives them a second point-man with a big shot, with the other being Jason Pominville, who they don’t always use on the point. With Neiderreiter, Vanek, Parise, and Koivu all bodies that can make plays around the net, and the problems the Hawks had with the Predators down low on the power play, this could become an issue.