Wild hold on to beat Blackhawks

[January 16, 2017]  CHICAGO -- Minnesota Wild right winger Jason Pominville parked near the right side of the crease and hoped for his teammate to put a shot on net.

Instead, Wild defenseman Marco Scandella missed the net badly with his slap shot. The puck ricocheted off the end boards and landed squarely on Pominville's stick.

"My eyes opened, for sure," Pominville said with a grin. "It worked out perfect."

Pominville capitalized on the friendly bounce with a go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Minnesota held on for a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Nino Niederreiter and Chris Stewart also scored as the Wild erased a two-goal deficit in the final two periods.

Minnesota (28-9-5) beat Chicago for the eighth straight regular-season matchup and moved in front of the Blackhawks in the Western Conference Central Division standings. The Wild improved to 19-2-4 in their past 25 games and are off to their best start in franchise history.

"It's always a big rival, and we always want to beat the Hawks," Niederreiter said. "They've won a few Stanley Cups in the past few years, and that's definitely something we want to accomplish some day. To do that, we have to make sure we beat top teams."

Chicago (27-14-5) lost its second game in a row despite a pair of goals from Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks sustained only their fifth defeat in regulation time in 26 home games this season.

Minnesota scored three goals in the final 34 minutes to seize the lead.

"It's frustrating," said Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov, who assisted on both of Kane's goals. "We just need to play better in the third period in tight games like that against a very good team. Just didn't get it done."

Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 33 saves on 35 shots to improve to 23-7-3 on the season.

Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford turned aside 29 of 32 shots to fall to 16-10-3.

Pominville snapped a 19-game scoring drought with his go-ahead goal. The 34-year-old had not scored since Nov. 29 at Vancouver.

"I've obviously felt a little snake-bitten lately," Pominville said. "I hit the crossbar pretty good in the first (period). I've missed a lot of opportunities, and it's been a little frustrating. But it's nice to help the team out. I knew it was going to come. I was getting too many looks to not put one in. It came at a pretty good time."

The Blackhawks opened the scoring 4:33 after the opening faceoff. Kane flicked a wrist shot from the right circle that deflected off Dubnyk's blocker and bounced into the net.

Kane scored again to increase Chicago's lead to 2-0 with 15:44 remaining in the second period. Anisimov won a faceoff in the left circle, and Kane ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net for his second goal of the game and his 14th goal of the season.

Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov (15) is checked by Minnesota Wild center Erik Haula (56) during the third period at the United Center. Minnesota won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Dubnyk said it was easy to keep his composure after allowing two goals.

"I was feeling good," Dubnyk said. "I've said it time and again with this group: They make it easy to settle and stay in it because I know it doesn't matter what the score is, I've got to keep making saves because we're never going to quit."

Minnesota scored on the power play to trim the deficit to 2-1 with 13:37 to go in the second period. Niederreiter spotted a loose puck near the crease and punched it past Crawford for his 12th goal.

A hard wrist shot by Stewart evened the score at 2 with nine minutes left in the second period. Jordan Schroeder slid a cross-ice pass to Stewart, who scored for the second time in as many games.

"(It's) frustrating," Kane said. "You still feel good being in a tie game, going into the third period at home against a team that's playing on back-to-back nights. Tough not to get anything out of that game."

NOTES: C Nick Schmaltz anchored the Blackhawks' fourth line one day after he was recalled from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Schmaltz, 20, had one goal and three assists in 26 games with Chicago earlier this season. ... Wild D Nate Prosser was a healthy scratch for the fifth game in a row. ... Blackhawks C Andrew Desjardins and RW Jordin Tootoo were healthy scratches as the team played seven defensemen. ... Wild RW Kurtis Gabriel was a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. ... Blackhawks C Artem Anisimov played despite missing Saturday's practice because of an illness. ...Sunday marked the two-year anniversary of G Devan Dubnyk's first game with the Wild. The Arizona Coyotes shipped Dubnyk to Minnesota for a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL draft.

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