MINNEAPOLIS - Players mostly have skated peacefully to their respective benches after whistles. Face-washes and shoving have been minimal and not one glove has been dropped.
Thus far, the Blackhawks' first-round series with the Wild has been tame. Expect that to change as there is one near certainty when it comes to postseason series: At some point, things will break badly.
"Both teams are kind of waiting for it," winger Patrick Kane said Saturday before boarding the Hawks' charter to Minnesota where they will face the Wild with a two-game lead in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals Sunday. "If you watch a lot of the other series there's a lot of stuff after the whistle and a lot of hitting. If it happens, it happens. We're a team that can deal with it."
When the Hawks faced the Coyotes during last season's first round, there was little animosity between the teams when they took the ice for Game 1. After the Hawks' Andrew Shaw collided with goaltender Mike Smith during Game 2, he was assessed a three-game suspension. In the next contest Raffi Torres crumpled Marian Hossa with an illegal check that severely concussed the veteran and resulted in a 21-game ban for Torres. Harsh feelings abounded.
"Every playoff series I've been in there has been some kind of bad blood and it usually comes out later on in the series," Hawks veteran winger Patrick Sharp said. "That stuff boils as you go along."
Through the first two games, there have been no major penalties and just two roughing minors - given to the Wild after the same scrum in Game 2. As the familiarity between the teams grows, contempt will as well.
"Things always heat up through playoffs series," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "All of a sudden, an animosity grows (and) the rivalry, the hatred, the bitterness (and) the competitiveness when you start seeing guys a little bit more."
Added defenseman Michal Rozsival: "As the series goes on it definitely could turn that way. We all want to win. They have some big bodies on their team and players who can skate and aren't afraid to hit. It can get interesting. Anything can happen in the playoffs."
It has been five years since the Wild and their fans have had a taste of the playoffs and all that goes with it. Playing at home and in dire straits after dropping the first two games should intensify the Wild's physical play.
"That serves us well," Wild coach Mike Yeo said of a physical game. "We're comfortable playing in those types of games. Certainly, against a team like (the Hawks) if we can get engaged in a game like that then I think it helps us. That said, we have to make sure we're doing it the right way and doing it within the structure of our game."
Quenneville said the key for the Hawks is to keep their composure if and when things turn nasty.
"You want to make sure discipline and being smart in those situations is going to be applied in the right way. It's tough to forecast that but you can't be surprised by it. Go into the game knowing you have to be ready for anything and everything."
Twitter @ChrisKuc