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The Chicago Blackhawks locked down the Wild, to go up 2-0 in their series, and the Pittsburgh Penguins controlled play against the New York Rangers, evening their series at one game apiece. Notes on Bryan Bickell, Brandon Saad, Matt Moulson, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury and more. BLACKHAWKS LOCK DOWN WILD The Chicago Blackhawks stifled the Minnesota Wild on the way to a 4-1 win in Game Two, taking a 2-0 series lead. LW Bryan Bickell picked up a goal and two assists to lead the Blackhawks attack and RW Marian Hossa had three assists. LW Brandon Saad also had a pair of goals for the Blackhawks and the performance of supporting cast wingers like Bickell and Saad reminded me of the recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Mark Lazerus, about Chicagos use of analytics. The article, without getting into specifics, discusses how the Blackhawks use all kinds of data in their player evaluation and one of the easiest ways to dismiss Chicagos use of analytics is that, hey, they have Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews -- its not analytics that make them a good team. Of course elite players matter more than a teams analytical approach, and Toews and Kane are great, but they are just two players. The rest of the roster still needs to be filled out and, for Chicago, that includes big-bodied wingers like Saad and Bickell. Bickell, who was a playoff hero last season, scoring nine goals and 17 points in 23 games as the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, finished the 2013-2014 regular season with 11 goals and 15 points in 59 games, so expectations were relatively low coming into this postseason. However, digging a little deeper into the numbers, we see that Bickell had a 58.0% Corsi during the regular season (second among Blackhawks forwards, behind Jonathan Toews) and was among the unluckiest forwards in the league with a 95.6% PDO (on-ice shooting plus save percentage); these underlying statistics suggested that Bickell might be due for better results and, with five goals and eight points in this years playoffs, hes getting better results. Before scoring two goals, including an empty-netter, Sunday, Saad had one goal in 32 career playoff games. The 21-year-old is also a strong possession player, and has seven points (2 G, 5 A) in eight playoff games this year. For a team that has Toews, Kane, Hossa and Patrick Sharp, getting big production out of Bickell and Saad is just about unfair. A little more on the Blackhawks forward lines: with Andrew Shaw hurt and Brandon Bollig scratched, the Blackhawks returned Kris Versteeg and Jeremy Morin to the lineup. Ben Smith had a rough game, in terms of puck possession, on for 29.4% (10 for, 24 against) of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when he was on the ice. The Blackhawks, without Smith on the ice, were getting 62.0% (31 for, 19 against) of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. With Jonathan Toews on the ice, the Blackhawks had 73.7% (14 for, five against) of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. With Toews off the ice, the Blackhawks had only 41.5% of the shot attempts, though there were obviously some score effects at play, since Chicago dominated possession in score close situations. The Wild have been having trouble generating offence against Chicago. Blackhawks G Corey Crawford stopped 18 of Minnesotas 19 shots Sunday, and hes stopped 48 of 51 (.941 SV%) in the first two games of this series. One of the more notable problem areas in the lineup for the Wild is LW Matt Moulson, who has one goal (on 20 shots) and one assist in nine playoff games and has, effectively, been taken out of an offensive role. No Wild player had a lower percentage of offensive zone starts in Game Two, but this one example stands in contrast to the Blackhawks forward depth. This wasnt expected to be a particularly close series and, through two games, the Blackhawks are living up to their favoured status. The Wild will have to find a way, perhaps with better matchups at home, to get more chances or else this could be short work for Chicago. PENGUINS BLANK RANGERS The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated play against the New York Rangers in Game Two, winning 3-0 and evening the series at one game apiece. Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 22 shots he faced, and that gives him a .914 save percentage (224 saves on 245 shots) in the playoffs -- his highest playoff save percentage since 2007-2008. D Kris Letang had an outstanding game for the Penguins, with a goal and two assists, while playing 25:35; a bit of a break through for an offensive defenceman who had one point in the previous seven playoff games. Penguins C Sidney Crosby didnt record a point, but was on top of his game, generating a game-high 10 shot attempts and on the ice for 74.1% (20 for, seven against) of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Marcel Goc was the possession ace for Pittsburgh in Game Two, on for 12 shot attempts for and just two against (85.7%). The only Rangers line to finish on the right side of the possession ledger -- and just barely (10 for, nine against) -- was the trio of Brad Richards, Carl Hagelin and Daniel Carcillo. On the other hand, the line of Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot was on for less than 15% of 5-on-5 shot attempts, while D Ryan McDonagh was on the ice for four attempts for and 19 against (17.4%). The Rangers have played four games in the past six days and looked fatigued in Game Two. With Game Three going Monday night, there isnt much time for rest, but they will need to use whatever they can on home ice to tilt the ice back in their favour. The way Game Two played out, the Penguins controlled play even more decisively than the final score indicated and the Rangers could fall behind in this series while they struggle with a more condensed schedule than their opponents. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Pavel Bure Jersey .Y. Islanders 4Winnipeg 5 Dallas 2Nashville 3 Colorado 0San Jose 5 Edmonton 2---AHLProvidence 5 St. Johns 4 (OT)Chicago 6 San Antonio 2---NBACleveland 105 Toronto 101Portland 98 Detroit 86New Orleans 104 New York 93Oklahoma City 114 Milwaukee 101Memphis 114 Dallas 105Miami 103 Phoenix 97Utah 100 San Antonio 96L. Markus Granlund Jersey . The Raptors (15-15) posted six road victories last month and have won seven of their last nine games overall. Toronto visits the Washington Wizards on Friday night. http://www.officialcanuckspro.com/ . Freddie Roach said if the Rios fight "does not go well, we will seriously talk about his retirement," but that Pacquiao was training as well as ever for the Nov. Henrik Sedin Jersey . The Raptors have to get through the pesky New York Knicks Wednesday at Madison Square Garden and can lock up the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a win or a Chicago loss in Charlotte. Daniel Sedin Jersey . -- Chris Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to put Memphis ahead to stay, and the 21st-ranked Tigers beat seventh-ranked Louisville 72-66 Saturday, sweeping the season series from the Cardinals.Sale suffered a poor start to their Champions Cup campaign with a 28-11 loss to Scarlets at Parc-y-Scarlets. The Sharks were beaten by first-half tries from Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies and winger DTH van der Merwe.And Van der Merwes second touchdown after 57 minutes ended the contest, with Scarlets fly-half Rhys Patchell adding three penalties and two conversions to underpin a comfortable win ahead of next Saturdays daunting assignment against Pool 3 favourites Saracens in north London. Hooker Neil Briggs claimed a try for the visitors, with fly-half Dan Mugford adding two penalties, but in a group that also includes European heavyweights Toulon, Sale already have an uphill battle for play-off qualification. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Mugford kicked Sale into a third-minute lead, but the Scarlets responded with a 13-point scoring burst in six minutes as they made their presence felt.A Patchell penalty put them level, then scrum-half Davies charged down Mugfords attempted clearance from just inside his own 22 and gathered the bounce to score, before Patchell converted and then kicked another penalty.Patchell then landed a long-range penalty to leave Sale 16-3 behind, but the visitors responded from their first attack as the forwards laid an imposing platform from an attacking lineout and Briggs stormed through a gap to touch down and reduce the deficit.dddddddddddd Liam Williams is tackled by Byron McGuigan But the Scarlets continued to dominate territory and possession, and extended their lead following more good work by Wales no 9 Davies.He made initial headway with a burst, before his half-back partner Patchell kicked towards the right wing, and Canada international Van der Merwe gathered and finished in one movement to restore a 13-point advantage.Mugford applied the final scoring act of a lively opening period when he kicked a penalty just before the break, but the Scarlets were good value for a 21-11 interval advantage. And Sale did not help their cause when they were temporarily reduced to 14 men just eight minutes after the restart when a high tackle by Harrison on Scarlets skipper Ken Owens resulted in French referee Romain Poite sin-binning the prop.Van der Merwes second try sealed the deal, and Sale then collected a second yellow card, this time for substitute Andrei Ostrikov following a high tackle, which left the closing 15 minutes all about whether or not the Scarlets could claim a bonus point.It did not materialise, though, as both sides failed to add any further points.You can watch Liverpool v Man Utd, plus Englands tour of Bangladesh and the British Masters on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy six months at half price! 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