Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks
The Minnesota Wild are struggling to regain their footing after losing five of their past six games ahead of their visit on Sunday to the Chicago Blackhawks.
On their seventh try, they finally eluded Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period when Spurgeon sent the puck past Mrazek’s blocker after a 4-on-2 rush for the Wild. Marco Rossi factored into the play to pick up an assist on the Wild’s past four goals, tying a team record for the second time this season.
Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov needs surgery on the lingering lower-body injury he recently returned from and will be sidelined for at least a month.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild were meeting in tumultuous times. Both teams had lost their previous two games, with Minnesota losing 5-4 to the Calgary Flames the night before.
It wasn't an overly convincing win, but the Wild got the job done against one of the worst teams in the NHL on Sunday evening. They started hot, then held on and were able to avoid blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-2 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
In the middle frame, Chicago’s Nick Foligno was whistled for holding Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov, and complained a bit too forcefully about the call, drawing a second penalty. Minnesota made it 3-0 on the extended power play, as Eriksson Ek recorded his ninth goal of the season and second of the weekend.
Connor Bedard put the Chicago Blackhawks on the board, but it was Landon Slaggert who gave them the only lead they’d need.
Goalie Filip Gustavsson’s 18 saves and Marcus Foligno’s empty-netter preserved earlier goals from captain Jared Spurgeon, Frederick Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek on Sunday night as the Wild ...
BOTTOM LINE: Central Division foes meet when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. Chicago is 4-9-2 against the Central Division and 15-28-5 overall. The Blackhawks are 3-7-4 in one-goal games.
Guerin didn't mince words in describing Minnesota's recent play during an intermission in Sunday's win over the Blackhawks.
The Minnesota Wild took care of business in their cross-conference matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. By a score of 3-1, the Wild took down one of the top