Blackhawks are still ahead of the Wild
All day leading up to the Blackhawks and Wilds game on Wednesday Night Rivalry you seen fans and writers saying the Wild have the edge on the Blackhawks and the tides have shifted into the favor of the Wild. The Wild are a very good team this year no doubt, but to say they have the upper hand and are the team to beat over the Hawks is an asinine statement. They had an 8 game regular season win streak against the Blackhawks leading into tonight's game. The key part of the last sentence is regular season they met the Hawks in the playoffs in the 2014-15 season and got swept in the second round. The Wild are 0-3 in the playoffs against the Blackhawks. Their first match up against the Wild in the postseason was the 2012-13 season and the Hawks won that series 4-1 in the conference quarterfinals. The very next year they lost in the second round 4-2 to the Hawks.
The Wild should not be considered the better team between the two just because of some regular season success. Regular season means nothing especially to a team like the Blackhawks who turn into a completely different monster when the playoffs come around. While when the playoffs come around for the Wild they crack under the pressure and get walked over when they have met the Hawks in the postseason. No one should say the tides have shifted until the Wild either beat the Blackhawks in the postseason or win a Stanley Cup. Until then they don't have an upper hand on the Blackhawks at all. The Wild are a very good team and match up very well against the Hawks this year for sure. I am not trying to discredit the Wild on their talent because they have ability to win the Stanley Cup this year.
The Blackhawks and Wilds game tonight ended 4-3 with Jonathan Toews picking up his 11th goal to win the game in OT. Ryan Hartman scored the first goal of the game in the first period. Nick Schmaltz scored one minute into the 2nd period, but was answered 46 seconds later by Jared Spurgeon. It was a solid back and forth game when some controversy happened. Zach Parise scored a goal 7 minutes and 15 seconds into the second period. The goal went under review and it took around 10 minutes for the refs to finally come back and say it was a good goal, but the issue was it shouldn't have been. This was one of the worst calls I have ever seen NHL refs make. The NBCSN network was showing videos of what blatantly showed Zach Parise being offside before the goal happened. The refs came back and said there wasn't conclusive evidence to overturn the goal. Social media went in an uproar after the monumental mess up by the refs.
That is SO clearly offsides. This is bullshit. I am watching this game under protest @nhl
— Chief (@BarstoolChief) February 9, 2017
That's the worst call in NHL history
— Patrick O'Sullivan (@realPOSULLIVAN) February 9, 2017
Parise is a solid 3 feet offsides and they still blow it. Unbelievable. #Blackhawks
— CB (@colburreport) February 9, 2017
How the hell is that okay inconclusive?! @NHL #Blackhawks
— Trevor Duncanson (@trevorduncanson) February 9, 2017
Richard Panik answered that goal 17 minutes and 24 seconds into the second period. The third period started and the Blackhawks and Wild are going back and forth. Its starting to look like the Hawks have the game won until Erik Haula scores with around 4 minutes left to tie the game and to send it to overtime. Ryan Suter got called for a holding penalty against Marian Hossa which led to the Blackhawks winning the game with a Jonathan Toews PPG in OT. The Blackhawks ended the 8 game regular season losing streak to the Wild and did it pretty convincingly if the refs didn't give the Wild a goal that shouldn't have counted. This was a huge game for both teams, but especially the Hawks since the Wild have games in hand and the Hawks showed they are still a dangerous team.
