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 The selection was appropriate: Journey's "Don't Stop Believin.'"
"It's funny how this game works, huh?" Minnesota defenseman Ryan
Suter said with a smile. "Two-and-a-half months ago, everyone is
down, negative, (and) you think the year's over. We come back, and
now we're on to the playoffs."
And believing.
The Wild scored twice in the third period en route to a 2-1 win over
the Chicago Blackhawks. Center Mikael Granlund and left winger Jason
Zucker scored for Minnesota, which earned its 11th consecutive road
win to increase its franchise record streak.
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 of 33 shots for the Wild
(45-27-8).
Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said he was proud of his team's toughness.
On Jan. 20, the Wild were 20-20-6 and had won only four of their
previous 18 games. Since then, they are 25-7-2 and headed for the
postseason.
"It's only one step," Yeo said. "We've got bigger plans and a bigger
goal, but I would say that I'm very, very proud of our guys. From
where we were, what we overcame, the way that everybody dug in
together to make the playoffs is quite an accomplishment."
Left winger Bryan Bickell scored the Blackhawks' lone goal. Chicago
(48-26-6) dropped its second consecutive game on home ice.
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford turned aside 28 of 30 shots in
the loss.
"I know that we got away from what made us (tough) for the first 40
minutes, knowing that there's no plays to be had," Chicago coach
Joel Quenneville said. "We tried to make plays and turned pucks
over. That led to plays in our own end."
Bickell said it was difficult to generate high-quality scoring
chances against Minnesota.
"We knew going into the game their game plan is to keep everything
outside," Bickell said. "I thought, overall, that was a good play
for them. We had a couple of opportunities to cash in, and we just
didn't capitalize on them."
Granlund broke a scoreless tie with 10:30 remaining in the third
period when he skated in from the slot and ripped a rising shot past
Crawford. Left winger Zach Parise set up the goal by battling for
the puck in front of the net and feeding a pass toward his charging
teammate.
The goal snapped a 14-game scoring drought for Granlund, whose
previous tally came on March 6.
Zucker increased Minnesota's lead to 2-0 when he converted on a
two-on-one break with right winger Chris Stewart with 6:46 remaining
in the third period. Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith could not
retreat in time to stop the shot by Zucker, who was playing in his
first game back since sustaining a broken clavicle that sidelined
him for the previous 27 games.
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"That's one of the best feelings in the world," Zucker said of his
return.
Bickell sliced the deficit to 2-1 when he lifted a rising shot from
the left circle with 1:48 remaining in the game. Quenneville pulled
Crawford for an extra skater in the final minute, but the Wild
withstood the attack.
Dubnyk provided several highlight-reel saves to improve to 36-13-4.
He stopped center Andrew Shaw and left winger Patrick Sharp during a
frenzy in front of the net with about 11 minutes remaining in the
second period. Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon ended the
sequence when he swept a loose puck from the crease to prevent a
goal.
"They're going to get their chances," Parise said. "They got the one
at the end, but all in all, I thought we played pretty tight in
their own zone and limited their second opportunities."
Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.
NOTES: Blackhawks C Brad Richards (upper body) sat out Tuesday, and
he is expected to miss the remaining regular-season games. ... Wild
LW Jason Zucker returned after missing 27 games because of a broken
collarbone. ... Blackhawks D Kimmo Timonen missed the game because
of an upper-body injury. ... Wild D Jordan Leopold played in place
of D Nate Prosser, who was a healthy scratch. ... Blackhawks RW Kyle
Baun made his NHL debut. Baun, 22, signed an entry-level contract
with Chicago on March 26 after completing his junior season at
Colgate. ... The Blackhawks announced defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk
underwent successful surgery to repair a right wrist injury. The
procedure was performed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital under the
supervision of Blackhawks physician Dr. Michael Terry. ... Wild LW
Matt Cooke missed his 31st consecutive game as he recovers from
sports hernia surgery. He could return later this week. ... The
Blackhawks finish with road games at St. Louis (Thursday) and at
Colorado (Saturday). ... The Wild close with road games at Nashville
(Thursday) and at St. Louis (Saturday).
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