The Chicago Blackhawks dominated the Minnesota Wild. This fact should be pretty obvious considering the Blackhawks swept the Wild out of the second round in four games, but it’s even more apparent once you learn that the Blackhawks never trailed in the series.
The Wild never led in the series against the Blackhawks. Not even for one second. The Wild were constantly playing from behind and the Blackhawks masterfully controlled the tempo and prevented their opposition from clawing back into any contests. At one point in Game 4, Patrick Kane had as many goals in the series as the entire Minnesota roster. That later changed, but it speaks volumes to how impressive Kane was in the four-game series and how stifling the Blackhawks were on defense.
How historical is this result? Never leading in a series isn’t quite as rare as you might think, but the Wild are now apart of a fairly special club.
Via WhoWins.com, here’s a look at all of the teams who never held a lead during an NHL playoff series. The team in parenthesis is the one who failed to ever jump out to a lead.
NHL Annihilations (Annihilator (vs. Annihilated)):
1946 Semis: Montreal Canadiens (vs. Chicago Blackhawks)
1952 Finals: Detroit Red Wings (vs. Montreal Canadiens)
1954 Semis: Montreal Canadiens (vs. Boston Bruins)
1960 Semis: Montreal Canadiens (vs. Chicago Blackhawks)
1960 Finals: Montreal Canadiens (vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)
1969 Qtrs: Boston Bruins (vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)
1969 Qtrs: St. Louis Blues (vs. Philadelphia Flyers)
1977 Qtrs: Montreal Canadiens (vs. St. Louis Blues)
1978 Semis: Montreal Canadiens (vs. Toronto Maple Leafs)
1979 Qtrs: New York Islanders (vs. Chicago Blackhawks)
1987 Prelim: Detroit Red Wings (vs. Chicago Blackhawks)
1989 Prelim: Pittsburgh Penguins (vs. New York Rangers)
1992 Qtrs: Chicago Blackhawks (vs. Detroit Red Wings)
1995 Qtrs: Detroit Red Wings (vs. San Jose Sharks)
2000 Prelim: Detroit Red Wings (vs. Los Angeles Kings)
2009 Prelim: Detroit Red Wings (vs. Columbus Blue Jackets)
2013 Semis: Boston Bruins (vs. Pittsburgh Penguins)
… and now you can place the Blackhawks – Wild series on this list as well.
As the Blackhawks prepare to move on to the third round, questions will undoubtedly be asked of the Wild. More may be asked of the St. Louis Blues who were pushed out in the first round in six games by the Wild.
