ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Corey Crawford made 34 saves, Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night for a four-game sweep.

The Wild never led in the series. Goals by Jared Spurgeon and Nino Niederreiter with 2:18 and 1:27 left gave them one last shot, with their net emptied. The final few whacks were either wide or turned aside by Crawford, who stopped 124 of 131 shots in the four games.

Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw scored for the Blackhawks, who were down to five defensemen after a serious injury to veteran Michal Roszival. Marian Hossa had a long empty-netter, and Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell had two assists apiece.

Chicago eliminated Minnesota from the playoffs for the third straight year. It won 12 of the 15 games.

It was the first sweep by the Blackhawks since the Western Conference finals in 2010 against San Jose. They improved to 30-0, including 5-0 in this postseason, when leading after two periods.

Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves for the Wild.

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