After a week of brutal cold and political unrest in Minnesota, the hometown hockey team offered a needed distraction on Tuesday night.
In the end, Kirill Kaprizov scored in a shootout, as the Wild rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period to shock the Chicago Blackhawks with a 4-3 win.
Trailing from virtually the opening faceoff, the Wild got third period goals from Yakov Trenin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon to get the game to overtime.
Jesper Wallstedt overcame a challenging start, finishing with 28 saves – five of them in overtime – to get the unlikely win. He foiled all three Chicago chances in the shootout.
With fans howling over a missed high sticking call at center ice, and Wallstedt headed to the bench for an extra attacker, Spurgeon poked in the rebound of an Eriksson Ek shot as Minnesota went beyond regulation for the eighth time in the past 14 games.
Wallstedt, making his 22nd start of the season, was busy early, facing four shots in less than 80 seconds from the opening faceoff. Chicago pounced to take the lead when Wallstedt stopped a long-range shot but could not find the puck. It slipped loose from under his leg pad and was swatted in the net.
Minnesota made a fruitless push only to end up down 2-0 after one period when a blind pass along the end boards was intercepted by the Blackhawks and zipped past Wallstedt for an unassisted goal.
Again in the middle frame, the Wild made a push, and again they ended up in a deeper hole. This time a rush down the wing and a Chicago shot that fooled Wallstedt on the glove side made it 3-0.
The home fans finally got a reason to cheer later in the second when Trenin scored for the fourth time this season and the second time this month, banking a shot just inside the far post. On the next shift, a Chicago defensive miscue gave the Wild a 4-on-1 rush to the offensive zone, only to see Kaprizov’s wide-angle shot hit the side of the net.
The Wild made it a one-goal game early in the third when Eriksson Ek cleaned up the rebound of a Quinn Hughes shot after Chicago goalie Spencer Knight made the initial save. It was the second goal in as many games for Eriksson Ek, who has been an offensive catalyst since returning from a six-game injury absence.
Knight had 19 saves for Chicago, which last won in Minnesota on Feb. 2, 2019.
Briefly
Former Gophers standout Oliver Moore, who is a rookie center for the Blackhawks, was playing his first NHL game in his home state on Tuesday. The Mounds View native said after Chicago’s morning skate that members of his family had purchased around 50 tickets for the game, with friends and former U of M teammates snapping up at least 15 more. Moore was drafted by Chicago in the 2023 first round and played two seasons for the Gophers.
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