CHICAGO (AP) — Jared Spurgeon, Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau scored to help the Minnesota Wild top the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday night.
Matt Boldy had three assists for Minnesota in the opener of a five-game trip. The Wild had lost five of six.
Chicago was limited to five shots on goal before rallying in the third period. Seth Jones scored on a power play and Frank Nazar added his third of the season at 4:16, trimming Minnesota’s lead to one.
But the Wild held on in the final minutes, and Marcus Foligno closed it out with an empty-netter with 1:42 left. Filip Gustavsson finished with 18 saves.
The Blackhawks dropped to 1-4-3 in their last eight games. They lost three of four in the season series against the Wild.
Minnesota jumped in front on Spurgeon’s wrist shot from the high slot 5:43 into the first period. Gaudreau made it 2-0 when he beat Petr Mrazek on the goaltender’s glove side from a tough angle at 7:17.
Eriksson Ek, who turns 28 on Wednesday, added a power-play goal on a slick redirection 10:45 into the second. He has nine goals on the season after he also scored during Saturday night’s 5-4 loss to Calgary.
TAKEAWAYS:
Wild: There was a letdown at the beginning of the third, but they played solid defense down the stretch.
Blackhawks: The late rally wasn’t enough to overcome a listless start. Mrazek finished with 24 saves.
KEY MOMENT:
Chicago had a power-play opportunity after Jakub Lauko was sent off for holding with 5:04 left, but Minnesota clogged the middle in front of Gustavsson and killed it off.
KEY STAT:
Spurgeon has scored four times against the Blackhawks this season. The captain has five goals overall.
UP NEXT:
Wild play at Toronto on Wednesday night, and Blackhawks open a three-game trip at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
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