CHICAGO – Jason Pominville fired a bad-angle shot that caromed off Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford onto the waiting stick of Mikko Koivu out front.
The maligned Wild captain had the right side of the net open. He had Crawford in a bind, an ideal scenario for Koivu to finally register a point in this series and give his team an early lead in a do-or-die Game 5.
He missed his mark. Badly.
Koivu ripped a clean shot squarely into Crawford's blocker pads for a wasted chance that pretty much summed up the Wild's hasty exit from the playoffs with a resounding 5-1 loss Thursday night at United Center.
The Wild played hard and had chances, but scoring goals trumps everything else and the Wild failed miserably at that.
"We had chances but at the end, that doesn't matter," Koivu said. "The difference is, you put the puck in the net or you don't."
An offseason that could bring significant changes inside the organization begins immediately and determining coach Mike Yeo's future ranks at the top of list. Whatever ownership decides on that question, the team must identify ways to add some scoring pop to this grind-it-out lineup. Fixing that deficiency should be a primary objective this offseason.
The Wild managed only seven goals in five playoff games and was more than doubled up in goal production by the highly skilled Blackhawks. In fairness, Chicago allowed the fewest goals in the NHL this season and really knows how to tighten the screws defensively when needed.