key players
Ilya Bryzgalov
The Wild's season-long goalie carousel has spun back to the enigmatic Russian. After giving up eight goals in Games 1 and 2 of the first round, Bryzgalov took a back seat to Darcy Kuemper until the rookie goalie was injured in Game 7 to Colorado. Bryzgalov entered with 8:13 left in the third, didn't face a shot and had to make only one in overtime to get the victory. Bryzgalov became the first goalie in Wild history to get a point in his first 10 starts (7-0-3) and is 8-6-5 career vs. the Blackhawks with a 2.51 goals-against average.
Ryan Suter
In last year's Game 1 against the Blackhawks, Suter topped 40-plus minutes and will again be the Wild's top shutdown defenseman against the Blackhawks' high-powered attack. He had an up-and-down series against Colorado, but that's to be expected when you're the guy tasked with playing all the big minutes vs. all the top players. In Game 7, he made the defensive play of the series by dropping to stop Paul Stastny's point-blank possibility.
Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise
In last year's opening round against Chicago, Koivu had no points in five games and was minus-6. Parise had one goal, no assists and was minus-7. The Wild will need better performances this time if the Wild wants to upset the defending Cup champs. So far, so good this postseason. Parise is tied for the league lead with 10 points and Koivu is second on the Wild with six. They're likely to open the series on separate lines after playing together all series vs. Chicago last year.
must step up
Jason Pominville
The Wild's leading goal scorer in the regular season with 30 had a disappointing first round. He scored one empty-net goal, and although he assisted on four goals, he was missing in action too many times. He had some turnovers and didn't seem to play with jump. Pominville had exceptional chemistry with Mikael Granlund during the regular season and he needs to quickly rekindle that magic.
