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 With Minnesota hosting a Stadium Series game for the first time,
Pominville and Haula each had a goal and two assist as the Wild won
their fourth in a row, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 at TCF
Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.
Right winger Nino Niederreiter, left wingers Thomas Vanek and Ryan
Carter, and defenseman Matt Dumba also scored for the Wild
(27-22-10), who improved to 4-0-0 under interim head coach John
Torchetti. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves as the Wild won in
Minnesota for the first time in 2016.
For Chicago, their fresh air experience didn't seem to help, as the
Blackhawks (38-19-5) were mostly silent offensively and fell to
1-3-0 all time in outdoor games. They got a goal from right winger
Patrick Kane, 19 saves from starting goalie Corey Crawford, and
seven more from Scott Darling, who came on in relief after 40
minutes.
Neither goalie was a match for Minnesota's suddenly enlivened
offense. Since previous head coach Mike Yeo was fired eight days
ago, the Wild have scored five or more goals in four straight games,
which is a franchise record.
"I think everyone's clicking," said Vanek, one of three former
University of Minnesota stars who factored in the scoring. "Any time
a coach change happens I think it gives everyone a kind of re-start
button and I think you can see it. I think everyone is making plays
where a week ago maybe we weren't making plays, myself included.
We're playing with confidence and we've got to make sure we keep it
here because we have a ways to go."
Minnesota got the massive crowd involved early, taking a 1-0 lead
before four minutes had elapsed. After a Blackhawks shot was
blocked, Wild right winger Justin Fontaine's lead pass sprung Carter
on a breakaway from the red line. Crawford stopped Carter's initial
shot and the rebound, but could not control the puck. Dumba crashed
hard to the crease and popped the loose puck beyond the reach of
Crawford's blocker.
The first power play of the game went to the Wild, and they doubled
their lead when Vanek re-directed a blast from the point by
Pominville.
"You get that first goal in the first game, you get a little
belief," said Torchetti of Pominville's newfound confidence. "Being
comfortable on the power play is big."
Chicago thought they had gotten a goal back near the midway point of
the first when Dubnyk was knocked down and Blackhawks defenseman
Duncan Keith's shot hit the back of the net, but officials
immediately waved the goal off and whistled Chicago captain Jonathan
Toews for interfering with Dubnyk on the play.
"We got pucks down there, we didn't win our battles, we didn't get
the puck back. It was just one and done every single time and that's
a team that plays a pretty good puck possession game," said Toews,
as Chicago fell to the Wild for the third time this season. "They're
solid defensively. You have one rush and one chance in their zone
and it's back down the other way. It's hard to sustain any kind of
offense and eventually convert that into the results and the goals.
We didn't have enough tonight."
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A bang-bang passing play by the Wild made it 3-0 early in the middle
period. Pominville, from behind the net, fed Haula, who was five
feet out from the top of the crease. Instead of shooting, Haula
zipped a pass to Niederreiter at the right of the net, where a low
shot missed Crawford's out-stretched leg pad.
That same trio made it 4-0 midway through the game, with Haula
passing to Niederreiter, Niederreiter feeding the puck to
Pominville, and Pominville blasting a slap shot from the slot that
beat Crawford on the glove side.
Carter welcomed Darling to the game in an unfriendly manner, scoring
his sixth goal of the season early in the third period to make it
5-0 and further ignite the festive crowd.
Chicago's only reason to cheer came late in the third when Kane
banked a low shot off Dubnyk's right leg. It was Kane's 35th goal of
the season, which is tops in the Western Conference.
Haula capped things when he was credited with a goal when he was
hauled down from behind by Kane as he headed toward an empty net,
after the Blackhawks pulled Darling for an extra attacker with more
than six minutes to play.
"What a feeling, first to get the win, and have the whole team play
that well," said Haula, another former Gopher. "Having 50,000
people, being back home where it started, it was incredible."
Minnesota lost left winger Jason Zucker with less than five minutes
to play in the second. Chicago defenseman Michal Rozsival collided
hard with Zucker near the blue line, hitting Zucker in the head with
his shoulder and arm. Zucker fell immediately, with his helmeted
head hitting the ice hard. Doctors attended to Zucker and helped him
from the ice on a cart, while Rozsival was assessed a game
misconduct and left the game as well.
"I think it was a major, it was a spontaneous play as a defenseman
in that situation," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "He just
played the man, unfortunately the player was injured."
NOTES: This was the 17th outdoor game played by NHL teams in the
modern era, and the first played in Minnesota. ... TCF Bank Stadium
first hosted outdoor hockey two years ago, with the University of
Minnesota beating Ohio State 1-0 on Jan. 17, 2014. Wild rookie D
Mike Reilly played in that game for the Gophers on a bitterly cold
night, with temperatures hovering near zero.
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