Jared Spurgeon, Frederick Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek scored to give the visiting Minnesota Wild a three-goal edge, and they held on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday.
Marcus Foligno scored once in a two-point game and goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 18 saves for the Wild, who snapped a two-game losing streak and had won one of their last six. Matt Boldy collected three assists.
Minnesota has a 15-0-1 record against the Blackhawks dating back to Feb. 4, 2020.
Seth Jones and Frank Nazar replied for the Blackhawks, who sit at the bottom of the Central Division and have only one victory in their last eight games . Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 24 shots.
With their need for a strong start to snap their skid, the Wild received it when Spurgeon opened the scoring at 5:43. The defenseman joined an odd-man rush, received the puck at the blue line and lifted a top-corner shot from the slot.
Gaudreau made it 2-0 before the Blackhawks even registered a shot on net when he fluttered a short-side, sharp-angled shot that Mrazek misplayed at 7:17 of the first period.
{{/usCountry}}Gaudreau made it 2-0 before the Blackhawks even registered a shot on net when he fluttered a short-side, sharp-angled shot that Mrazek misplayed at 7:17 of the first period.
{{/usCountry}}Eriksson Ek extended Minnesota's lead to 3-0 at 10:45 of the second period when he redirected Kirill Kaprizov's shot-pass just inside the post.
Chicago was held to one shot in the opening frame and five through 40 minutes, but made a game of it with an inspired third period.
Jones, who was hit in the face by a puck in the middle frame, put the hosts on the board thanks to a power-play goal, a top-corner shot from the high slot, 56 seconds into the third period.
Nazar then pulled his team within one goal when he pounced on a sharp-angled rebound attempt at 4:16 of the period.
With an assist on the goal, Ethan Del Mastro a 2021 fourth-round draft pick collected his first NHL point in his fourth big-league game.
Chicago came close to drawing even, but Gustavsson delivered a huge leg save on Patrick Maroon. Foligno's empty-net goal with 1:42 remaining sealed the game.
Field Level Media
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