Let that sink in. Five times. In seven years.
MORE: Second-round results, TV | Rozsival suffers bad injury | Friday betting preview
They took a familiar path to get there. After completing a sweep of the Wild on Thursday with a 4-3 win, the Blackhawks have eliminated Minnesota in each of the past three postseasons. This time around, Chicago didn’t trail the entire series, outscoring Minnesota 13-7 in the four games.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, avoided a sweep with a convincing 6-2 win over the Lightning in their Game 4, at last playing like the team that finished with the second-best regular season record in the NHL. Montreal entered the game tied with the Rangers for lowest-scoring team still in the playoffs, averaging 1.78 goals per game.
Blackhawks 4, Wild 3 (Chicago wins series 4-0)
Takeaway: The Blackhawks had to sweat out a few anxious minutes toward the end of Game 4 after taking a 4-1 lead on Marian Hossa’s empty-net goal (his first goal in 22 playoff games). The Wild responded with two goals in 51 seconds and suddenly Chicago’s lead was cut to 4-3 with 1:27 to play. Hossa’s goal, at first thought to be a mere formality, proved the game-winner.
Patrick Kane scored in all four games of the series and has seven goals and 13 points through 10 games this postseason. The Wild’s stars didn’t perform so well. Their five top-paid players — Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville — combined for two goals and a minus-15 rating in the series.
Quotable: “That was crazy,” Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford said of the finish. “It almost entered ‘best comebacks of all time’ territory.”
Highlight: Jonathan Toews had himself some kind of night. You might say his first goal was a bit lucky after it deflected off the leg of Marco Scandella just enough to ricochet over the shoulder of Devan Dubnyk.
When it came time to shoot at an empty net, well, let’s just say he used up all his luck on the first goal.
Next up: The Blackhawks will face the winner of the Ducks-Flames series in the Western Conference finals.
Canadiens 6, Lightning 2 (Tampa Bay leads series 3-1)
Takeaway: The Canadiens put an end to a couple streaks they’d probably rather forget. They beat the Lightning for the first time since last year’s playoffs; they were 0-7-1 eight meetings since then. And when Jeff Petry scored on the power play in the second period, it was just the second goal the Canadiens have scored with the man advantage this postseason. They were 1 for 28 before then.
Lightning star Steven Stamkos wasn’t so lucky. He was held without a shot on goal for the second straight game. Stamkos has one goal in 11 playoff games and is averaging 2.5 shots per game.
Montreal chased Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop, who had been the Lightning steadiest presence. Bishop allowed three goals on 14 shots before leaving in favor of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who allowed three more.
Quotable: “I think Bishop has kind of been sitting on a horseshoe there,” P.K. Subban said of the Lightning yanking their goalie.
Highlight: The prettiest goal of the game happened to be the first. Here’s a little lesson in puck movement courtesy of Subban, Max Pacioretty and Andrei Markov.
Next up: Saturday at Montreal, 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Three stars
P.K. Subban, D, Canadiens: Subban assisted on two goals and had three shots of his own while skating a team-high 25:34. His leads the team with seven points in the playoffs.
Corey Crawford, G, Blackhawks: Wipe away those final 2 1/2 minutes and Crawford stopped 34 of 35 shots in another stellar showing.
1. Max Pacioretty, F, Canadiens: Pacioretty was all over the ice Thursday. He finished with a goal, two assists and three shots in 17:30 of ice time.
Injury report
Michal Rozsival, D, Blackhawks: Rozsival took a nasty-looking tumble while backpedaling to defend an odd-man rush in the second period, his left ankle twisting backward under his weight while he fell to the ice. Rozsival needed the help of two teammates to leave the ice and headed for the dressing room. He did not return. After the game, coach Joel Quenneville said Rozsival’s injury “doesn’t look good.”
Friday’s games
(All times Eastern)
Capitals at Rangers, 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Ducks at Flames, 9:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN
