Zawaski: Blackhawks' Depth Shines Against Wild
By Jay Zawaski--
(CBS) Perhaps when I predicted the Blackhawks to win their Western Conference semifinal series against the Wild in seven games, I was overrating Minnesota. Perhaps when making that pick, I was underrating Chicago. Perhaps it was both.
Whatever the case, through three games, the Blackhawks have outperformed the Wild in a manner few could have predicted. After all, Blackhawks fans and observers had spent the better part of 88 games trying to figure out exactly what to make of their team.
The regular season was a roller-coaster performance. The old "win-win-loss-loss-win-loss shuffle" became the theme song for the season. The Blackhawks were inconsistent defensively. Their power play was broken. Coach Joel Quenneville was making bizarre roster decisions. It was hard to find faith in this edition of the Blackhawks, but history couldn't be ignored. These guys had been here before. Were they waiting to flip the proverbial switch or were they destined for an early golf season?
Chicago has answered that question. The switch has been flipped, and it's displaying the championship form we've been waiting to see all season.
When the Blackhawks won championships in 2010 and 2013, their success started and ended with team defense. Yes, they had (and have) as much offensive firepower as anyone in league, but having 12 forwards and 5 1/2 reliable defensemen willing to play on both ends of the ice has been their winning formula.
That's exactly what the Blackhawks are demonstrating against the Wild.
Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Johnny Oduya and, yes, even Michal Rozsival have played solid hockey this round. Keith is fourth in playoff scoring, behind only Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and teammate Patrick Kane. He's tied for the playoff lead a +8.
The Chicago centers are dominating at the face-off dot. In Game 3, the Blackhawks won 37 of 59 face-offs (nearly 63 percent).
The Blackhawks' third line of Antoine Vermette, Patrick Sharp and Teuvo Teravainen led all of Game 3 with a +17 Corsi rating. Teravainen in particular seems to generate a chance every time he touches the puck.
The fourth line of Marcus Kruger, Andrew Shaw and Andrew Desjardins has held the Wild's top line to nothing.
After Game 3, Wild coach Mike Yeo was out of solutions.
"We know what we're up against," he said. "I'm not gonna get up here right now and give a rah-rah speech. In all honestly, I've never been here before. I guess what you do it try to draw upon … uh … things."
Yep. "Things." This is what it's come to for the Wild.
Jay Zawaski is the executive producer of the Spiegel and Goff Show on 670 The Score and the Blackhawks columnist for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayZawaski670.
