Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Kane scored twice and Corey Crawford was solid in between the pipes as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Patrick Sharp tallied a goal and an assist, Jonathan Toews supplied a short- handed goal and Crawford made 30 saves for the Blackhawks, who won 4-3 in Friday's series opener.
"It's more intense and the best hockey to play," Kane said of playoff hockey. "They are fun games to play in."
Chicago improved to 8-0 all-time at home against the Wild in the playoffs and have won all five home games this postseason.
"We've had some good success in this building," said Sharp. "We will enjoy the win tonight and gear up for a tough two games coming up."
Matt Dumba lit the lamp and Devan Dubnyk allowed three goals on 30 shots for the Wild, who lost consecutive games for the first time since acquiring Dubnyk from Arizona on Jan. 14.
The series will resume Tuesday with Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.
Toews finally opened the scoring on the penalty kill with 7:32 remaining in the second.
Marian Hossa stripped Ryan Suter of the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the Wild zone on an odd-man rush and dished the puck to Toews, whose shot from the right side deflected off the knob of Dubnyk's stick and over the goal line.
Moments later, Crawford made a beautiful sprawling save on Kyle Brodziak and threw out his pad to deny Zach Parise on a following sequence.
Following a failed Minnesota entry, Duncan Keith took the puck and sent a perfect stretch pass through the neutral zone to Kane, who made it a two-goal game by wristing a shot under the arm of Dubnyk from the right circle with 19.9 seconds left before the second intermission.
"I think you would much rather be in a one-goal game going into the third period," Dubnyk said. "It's definitely disappointing to give up one at the end of the period like that."
Dumba got the Wild within 2-1 after firing a shot from the far edge of the right circle off the glove of Crawford for a power-play goal just 1:20 into the third.
Six minutes later, Sharp restored Chicago's two-goal advantage with a seeing- eye wrister under Dubnyk's glove from the left-circle dot.
Dubnyk was pulled with over two minutes left in regulation, but Kane scored on the vacated cage to seal the outcome.
Thomas Vanek had the best chance in a scoreless first period. Vanek skated to the front of the net and had his deflection in the crease turned aside by Crawford's quick pad.
Midway through the second stanza, Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya made a stellar defensive play, diving to swipe the puck away from Chris Stewart on a breakaway. Stewart crashed hard into the boards and went straight to the dressing room, but returned to the ice after missing just a few shifts.
Game Notes
Kane recorded his 100th and 101st career playoff points with his two goals ... Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival played in his 100th career playoff game ... Wild forward Justin Fontaine was out of the lineup with a lower-body injury that he suffered in Game 1 on Friday ... Minnesota is now 2-8 in Game 2s, last winning one in a first-round matchup with Colorado in 2008 ... Chicago improved to 3-0 when leading after two periods during the playoffs. They were 25-0-0 in the situation during the regular season.
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