Top 5 Blackhawks Games In The 2013 Stanley Cup Run

#5. April 30, 2013  United Center

Game #1 Conference Quarterfinals- Chicago Blackhawks-2 Minnesota Wild-1 OT

Apr 30, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing

(29) is congratulated by his teammates for scoring the game-winning goal against the Minnesota Wild during overtime in game one of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at the United Center. The Blackhawks beat the Wild 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, the Hawks won the series in relative ease in five games with the Minnesota Wild being probably the easiest possible match for the Hawks to face in the first round.  I picked Game #1 because of two reasons.  Going into the game there was talk about the President’s trophy curse and if the Hawks were going to be able to bring the same amount of effort as they did during their great regular season.

The talk by the Wild and every team after them was to keep the scoring down against the Blackhawks and when Cal Clutterbuck scored 4:48 into the game and the Wild defense went into a shell shutting down the Blackhawks offense. A real playoff tease is the fact that the Hawks scored a powerplay goal on a nice passing play that ended up on Marian Hossa stick and in the back of the net passed Josh Harding.  The playoffs really started out strange when Nicklas Backstrom was injured in pre-game skate forcing Harding into the starting role which he played admirably for the rest of the series.

The game ended up going into overtime which was just the beginning of what would become a record amount of overtime games.  Bryan Bickell gets the game winner here is the highlight.

The two reasons I picked this game are this

1. The Hawks pick up the win and not allow any kind of doubt creep in about curses or give the Wild any great hope that an upset is possible.

2. The OT goal for Bickell kicks him off on a magical playoff run that ended with 9 goals and a Stanley Cup.