The Minnesota Wild play the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday in Game 1 of their 2014 NHL playoffs second round series. The game starts at 9:30 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream or listen to the radio broadcast with the links provided below.
Chicago opened the postseason with two straight losses to the St. Louis Blues, but they bounced back with four consecutive wins to earn a spot in the second round. Their 5-1 win on Sunday closed out the series.
Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith played a role in the victory, scoring one goal and dishing three assists.
"It feels good to contribute in a big game," Keith told the Associated Press, "and I think just the main thing for me is just being able to move on and get a couple days to relax and just regroup and focus on the next round."
Minnesota needed seven games against the Colorado Avalanche to secure a spot in the second round. Their 5-4 win in Wednesday's Game 7 closed out the series and earned them a date with Chicago on Friday.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, whose team beat Minnesota in five games in last year's first round, praised the Wild for their strong finish down the stretch of the season.
"It is definitely a different team," Quenneville said. "You got to commend them on how they played at the end of the year to get themselves in the playoffs. Had a great run and had a lot of momentum going into that series, and they played a great series."
It's unclear who will start as goalie for Minnesota. Darcy Kuemper left in the third period of Game 7 with an injury, giving way to Ilya Bryzgalov.
"It's not really affecting us at all," Wild forward Zach Praise said of their goaltender situation. "We've had a pretty unique goaltending situation this year, but it really hasn't affected us in the locker room at all. We're comfortable with whoever we're playing with and it really hasn't changed the way we play at all."
Watch the live stream HERE, or listen to the radio broadcast HERE.
