May 07--ST. PAUL, Minn. -- When the Blackhawks played the Predators, more often than not, the Hawks were starting from behind. Thre Predators scored the first goal four of six times in that series, forcing the Hawks ot play catch up.
But one of the reasons the Hawks are ahead 3-0 in their series against the Wild has been better starts to games. All three games, the Hawks have scored the first goal.
It's something the Hawks have worked on improving since the Predators series.
"I think that Predators series, half the games we were trying to do too much. We weren't keeping it simple," winger Bryan Bickell said.
Bickell said having strong starts is a constant refrain from coach Joel Quenneville.
"He's just been repeating it. It's kind of annoying after the 20th time, but he wants it embedded in our head," Bickell said.
For Game 4 Wild coach Mike Yeo is replacing Jordan Leopold with Nate Prosser on his blue line and jumbled up the rest of his lines. When asked how he decided his lines, Yeo said: "Dice, bingo balls."
Nino Niederreiter will skate on the third line with Thomas Vanek and Kyle Brodziak. Charlie Coyle is taking Niederreiter's place on a line with Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker.
Chris Stewart remains out because of an upper-body injury for the Wild while Justin Fontaine is out again because of a lower-body injury.
