CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks are in a place they haven't been since winning the Stanley Cup in 2010. With a 3-1 lead in their first-round, best-of-seven series against the Wild, the Blackhawks are on the verge of winning in the first round for the first time in three seasons.
Still ...
"I feel like the series is never over until the final buzzer sounds," said Chicago forward Patrick Sharp, who has scored four goals in the past two games. "We expect Minnesota to come in and play their best game of the series here in Game 5. They've got a lot of character, so no question they're going to show up and play hard tomorrow.
"We have a great opportunity to end the series, use our building, use our fans to our advantage."
The Blackhawks still are smarting from their Game 3 loss in St. Paul.
"This is a chance to redeem ourselves for the way we played in Game 3," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "Everyone's saying we haven't played our best game yet in this series, so we got to get as close to that as we can."
Game 4, a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, was a big improvement for Chicago.
"We ratcheted up our emotion and intensity going into that game; we still think there's another level we want to get to," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
