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 Goalie Corey Crawford made 42 saves on 44 Minnesota shots as the
Chicago Blackhawks overcame an emotional Minnesota team playing
without left winger Zach Parise to defeat the Wild 4-2 Thursday
night.
Parise's father, former NHL player J.P. Parise, died Wednesday
night. The Wild paid tribute to J.P. Parise with a video
presentation and a moment of silence.
Left winger Bryan Bickell scored twice, including an empty-netter,
and right winger Patrick Kane added a goal and an assist. Crawford
backstopped Chicago's third consecutive win with 42 saves.
Right winger Jason Pominville had two points for the Wild, and
goaltender Niklas Backstrom made 16 saves in a losing cause.
"They were the better team tonight for sure and we dodged a bullet,"
Quennville said. "Nothing is easy to get cheap against that team,
you've got to work for everything you get."
"Usually, we find a way to outshoot our opponents and hold the pace
and play of the game," Kane said. "That wasn't the case tonight.
Minnesota took it to us and he stood tall in there."
 Already up 1-0 after an early goal by left winger Patrick Sharp,
Chicago extended its lead late in the first period on a pretty Kane
goal as time wound down on a five-minute power play.
With Wild left winger Thomas Vanek serving a major penalty for
boarding Chicago center Marcus Kruger, Blackhawks center Jonathan
Toews attacked the net from the right circle before dishing to
forward Brad Richards in the high slot. Rather than take the shot,
Richards fed Kane down low for a one-timer past Backstrom at 16:19.
The second period was nearly all Wild as the home team outshot the
Blackhawks 19-5 and wasted little time cutting Chicago's lead in
half.
Playing his second straight game on Minnesota's top line in place of
Parise, Jason Zucker brought the Wild within 2-1 just 1:03 into the
middle period. The Wild left winger was inexplicably left alone
between the circles, where he received Pominville's pass and buried
the puck behind Crawford for his team-leading 15th goal of the
season.
"I think it's probably the best game in a long time for us,"
Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "For sure, the result is probably not
what we deserve. I think we should have deserved more today, but the
way we played, we have to keep pushing.
Two days after firing 54 shots on Colorado, the Blackhawks were
limited to 20 shots by the Wild.
"They play pretty shutdown," Bickell said. "We just capitalized on
our opportunities. I think we had a couple good Grade A chances to
score. They play good defensively."
But Chicago withstood Minnesota's barrage, thanks in no small part
to Crawford's stellar effort.
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"I was just trying to find the puck," Crawford said. "They were
getting some traffic in front. I was just trying to look around
traffic and to battle as hard as I could through screens and stuff,
especially on their power play." The Blackhawks restored their two-goal cushion at the 6:20 mark
of the third. Not surprisingly, the goal had Kane's fingerprints all
over it.
Chicago's Wild-killing right winger picked up the puck in the
neutral zone and carried it into the Minnesota zone before dropping
a pass to Bickell, whose one-timer from the top of the left circle
sailed past Backstrom's outstretched glove.
"He's got a great shot," Kane said. "Not many players can score from
that part of the ice on that angle with no screen in front; he
picked a corner perfectly."
The Wild drew within one with 5:05 left in regulation just seven
seconds into a five-on-three following a delay-of-game call on
Chicago with Minnesota already on a power play. Wild center Mikko
Koivu won the draw to Vanek, who slid a pass to Pominville in the
left circle. Pominville roofed his ninth of the year over Crawford.
The goal cut Chicago's lead to 3-2, but Bickell iced the victory
with one minute remaining.
NOTES: LW Patrick Sharp's first-period goal marked the first time in
six games the Blackhawks scored first. ... In addition to the
absence of LW Zach Parise, Minnesota was without C Mikael Granlund
(wrist), D Marco Scandella (upper body) and G Darcy Kuemper (lower
body), forcing the Wild to recall RW Jordan Schroeder, D Jon Blum
and G John Curry from AHL Iowa. ... Chicago LW Daniel Carcillo was
back in the lineup after a two-game absence. ... The Wild wrap up a
three-game homestand this weekend hosting the Nashville Predators in
a Saturday matinee before reuniting with the Blackhawks on Sunday
night in Chicago. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are taking the long way
home, capping off a two-game road trip with a stop in Edmonton on
Friday.
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