Corey Crawford made 34 saves, Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild Thursday for a four-game sweep.
The Wild never led in the series. Goals by Jason Pominville and Nino Niederreiter with 2:18 and 1:27 left gave them one last shot, with their net emptied. The final few whacks were either wide or turned aside by Crawford, who stopped 124 of 131 shots in the four games.
Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw scored for the Blackhawks, who were down to five defensemen after a serious injury to veteran Michal Roszival. Marian Hossa had a long empty-netter, and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell had two assists apiece.
