On a night where the momentum should’ve been in favor of the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild let all that mo-jo go out the window in losing 3-0 to Chicago in game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal. The victory gives the Blackhawks a 3-games to one lead in the series with game five set for Chicago’s United Center on Thursday night.

The Wild took 63 shots but only 25 “made it through” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo after the loss. Yeo also was fretting about his team’s power-less power play which is now an astounding 0 for 15 in the series. The Wild were 0 for 6 on the man advantage on Thursday. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford pitched the shutout for Chicago and Patrick Sharp had the game’s first two goals.

The Wild were also thrown another curve when goaltender Josh Harding  left the game with an injury after one period of play. 22 year old Darcy Kuemper made his post-season debut for Minnesota starting the 2nd period and finishing the game. Harding’s status for game 5 is unknown. This of course, after the Wild lost #1 goalie Niklas Bakstrom during warm-ups before game 1. Kuemper spent most of this past season at the Wild’s AHL minor league affiliate in Houston.

Notes: The Wild outshot the Hawks 25-24, which included 26 blocked shots by Chicago; they also landed more hits again, outhitting them 20-10. Sharp now has four goals in the series to lead all scorers

 SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled the following players from the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL): F Zack Phillips, F Justin Fontaine, F Brett Bulmer, F Chad Rau, DKyle Medvec and G Jeff Deslauriers.

In addition, the Wild also announced that Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Chicago Blackhawks has been set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 9 at United Cente in Chicago.

     SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced that Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter has been named a finalist for James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins) and P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens) were also named finalists.

    Suter, 28 (1/21/85), recorded 32 points (4-28=32) including 15 power-play points (3-12=15), 24 penalty minutes (PIM) and a plus-2 rating in 48 games with Minnesota this season. He led the NHL in TOI/game at 27:16, ranked second in assists and third in scoring amongst defensemen. Suter ranked first on the Wild in assists and blocked shots, tied for second with seven multi-point games and fourth in scoring. His time on ice total set a new franchise record. Suter skated more than 30 minutes in 10 games this season and logged a season-high 32:54 of ice time in Minnesota’s 3-1 win at Colorado on April 27 to help the Wild advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2008. The Wild went 18-3-3 when he registered a point this season and were 15-1-1 when he skated to a plus-rating.

    The 6-foot-1, 198-pound native of Madison, Wis., has tallied 270 points (42-228=270), including 114 power play points (14-100=114), 420 PIM and a plus-45 rating in 590 career games during eight seasons with Nashville and Minnesota. This marks the first time that Suter, and a member of the Wild, has been named a finalist for this award.

    Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Norris Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, with more detail on format to be released at a later date. The James Norris Memorial Trophy was presented in 1953 by the four children of the late James Norris in memory of the former owner-president of the Detroit Red Wings.

By Bruce Leonard                                photo by Bryan Singer

The wait was worth it. Playing their first Stanley Cup playoff game in the State of hockey in five years, the Wild beat the Blackhawks in dramatic fashion using a goal from rookie Jason Zucker  2:15 into overtime to win 3-2 cutting Chicago’s lead in the best of seven Western Conference quarterfinals to two games to one.

Wild Coach Mike Yeo wanted his team to play a more physical style of hockey against the talent laden speedy top seeded Hawks. He got his wish. In front of an amped up electric crowd of 19,238 the Wild took their coaches message to heart setting a take-no-prisoners tone early and often aggressively going after Chicago at every opportunity. They out hit the Hawks 31-12 through regulation and out shot them 37-27.

Pierre Marc-Bouchard and Zach Parise also scored for Minnesota. Josh Harding was stellar in the nets with 25 saves. Game 4 is Tuesday night back at the Xcel Energy Center.

P.S. One of the more goose-bump tingling moments came right off the top when Jack Jablonski, the paralyzed student-athlete from Benidle-St. Margaret’s emerged as the flag bearer before the opening puck drop.