ST. PAUL, Minn. – – Ryan Hartman shot with 3:13 left in the game, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday to end a four-game season sweep of their Central Division rivals.
Frederick Gaudreau and Jordan Greenway also shot for Minnesota. Cam Talbot made 21 saves to win his fifth straight, improving his last 13 starts to 9-4-0.
“If you get a little bit of confidence, you just keep building on that,” Talbot said.
Seth Jones scored his first goal in 36 games for the Blackhawks, and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves.
In the game-winner, Kirill Kaprizov overpowered a Chicago defender for the puck in the right corner and fed Mats Zuccarello close to the slot. His touchdown was found by Hartman alone on the left side for a pass on which Lankinen had no chance.
“I’ve been playing with Zuccy for a while now and you know he passes that puck 101% of the time. Of course he’s a great passer and made a great game,” Hartman said.
From behind his own goal line, Greenway shot into an empty net in the weak seconds.
Interim Chicago coach Derek King thought his team played well most of the time, except for the win.
“Like a little brain lapse. We doubled and we did not cover the front. Against such good hockey teams, they will put it in your net,” he said.
Improving to 4-1-1 in his last six, Minnesota started the day with Nashville for third place in the Central Division, three points back at second place St. Louis.
“We played as well defensively as we had at one time, and that’s what it takes this time of year,” Talbot said. “There are no blowouts, really, this time of year. It will be the one-, two-game goals with an empty-net style. You have to be comfortable with those situations, and the last few games have shown me that we can do that. the game.
Minnesota beat Boston 4-2 on Wednesday.
Gaudreau converted a feed from Kevin Fiala for a 1-0 lead late in the opening frame. With the helper, Fiala established a career high with 55 points.
After a short tussle with the defender, Borb Katchouk finally tucked the ball home. His other biggest saves came in the second period: the Kirby roof close to the right post on a feed from Patrick Kane and a sprawling arm save on Dominik Kubalik from a roof feed.
“There are some of the players you know when they come in, it can snowball, but Cam stood on his head and made big saves when he needed it,” Hartman said.
Jones tied the game for Chicago in the middle of the third period with a wrist from the left point that hit Talbot high on the glove side.
Lankinen started in goal instead of Marc-Andre Fleury, who could be moved to a candidate until Monday’s deadline. Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Friday that the team is in reconstruction mode – the same day Chicago traded Brandon Hagel, the team’s second leading candidate with 21.
“A lot of speculation is going on, but that’s not really my job here. My job is to stay focused and help the team when now,” Lankinen said, adding that he was “absolutely” ready to play again on Sunday. .
NOTE
Minnesota has acquired LW Nicholas Deslauriers of Anaheim for a 2023 third-round draft pick. … Minnesota is 21-1-1 when you lead after a period and 22-0-2 leads after two. … Blackhawks Alex Vlasic made his NHL debut four days after signing a three-year entry-level contract. … Katchouk and RW Taylor Raddysh also played in their first Chicago game. All were purchased from Tampa Bay on Friday as part of the hail trade. … The Blackhawks are 0-8-2 in the first game of back-to-back games.
OP Next
Blackhawks: On Sunday at home against Winnipeg.
Wild: Host Vegas on Monday.
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