NHL playoffs: Third time not the charm for Wild

ST. PAUL - Chicago right winger Marian Hossa’s short-handed empty-net goal gave the Blackhawks what appeared to be a comfortable 4-1 lead over the Minnesota Wild with 3:07 to play in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series. But it proved to be the difference as the Blackhawks eliminated Minnesota for the third straight season with a dramatic 4-3 win in front of 19,163 at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota goals by defenseman Jared Spurgeon and right winger Nino Niederreiter 51 seconds apart in the final three minutes with goaltender Devan Dubnyk pulled made it a nail biter at the end and turned Hossa’s goal into the game winner.
Defenseman Brent Seabrook, center Andrew Shaw and right winger Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago, which advanced to the Western Conference finals for the fifth time in the last seven seasons with a series sweep. Goaltender Corey Crawford made 34 saves to pick up the win.
Already up by a goal, the Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead early in the second period on Shaw’s gritty power-play goal, his first of the postseason. Chicago center Jonathan Toews fed the puck into the low slot and under sliding Wild defenseman Nate Prosser, where Shaw retrieved it and beat Minnesota Dubnyk at 3:28.
With just four goals to its credit through three games, Minnesota appeared left for dead until Wild center Erik Haula’s goal 3:13 later cut the deficit in half.
Wild left winger Matt Cooke’ deflection of Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba’s shot caught Crawford up high and the puck rebounded to Haula for his first playoff point this season.
Chicago carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission as the Blackhawks notched the game’s first goal for the fourth time this series.
Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook received left winger Bryan Bickell’s pass along the right-wing boards at the red line and carried the puck into the Minnesota zone as Wild defenseman Marco Scandella closed in. Seabrook’s shot from the top of the right circle ramped up Scandella’s outstretched stick blade and over Dubnyk’s left shoulder for his third of the playoffs at the 10:23 mark.
NOTES: The Wild twice previously faced 3-0 playoff deficits. Minnesota was swept by Anaheim in the 2003 Western Conference finals and fell 4-1 to the Ducks in the first round in 2007. ... Before Tuesday’s Game 3 win, the Blackhawks had suffered seven straight Game 3 road losses. Chicago is now 2-9 as the visiting team in Game 3 during the Joel Quenneville era. ... Minnesota D Nate Prosser, who turned 29 on Thursday, was inserted into the lineup for the first time this postseason in place of veteran Wild D Jordan Leopold, who was a healthy scratch. ... Although Blackhawks LW Kris Versteeg is fully recovered from a lower-body injury, he was not in the lineup for Game 4. ... After Wild C Ryan Carter made his postseason debut in Game 3, he was replaced on the fourth line by C Erik Haula, whose only playoff action came in Game 2 of the series.