Marian Hossa's empty-net shorthanded goal wound up being the game winner as the Chicago Blackhawks were able to survive a crazy finish and polish off a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Wild with a 4-3 win in this Western Conference semifinal series.
Patrick Kane notched a goal and an assist, while Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw also lit the lamp for the Blackhawks, who punched their ticket to the conference finals for a third straight postseason. Corey Crawford turned away 34 shots in the victory.
Chicago, which lost to eventual champion Los Angeles in seven games last spring, awaits the winner of the Anaheim/Calgary series.
Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville and Erik Haula scored and Devan Dubnyk allowed three goals on 24 shots for the Wild, who were eliminated from the postseason for a third straight season by Chicago.
[SportsNetwork.com]
