CHICAGO — Well, the Minnesota Wild didn’t shut out an opponent for a change. But we were reminded they can still rally with the best of them if forced to chase a game.
For the first time in 13 games, the Wild didn’t score first. And for the first time in 505 minutes, 41 seconds — the longest run by an NHL team since the St. Louis Blues in February 2019 — the Wild trailed in a contest.
But after a sluggish first two periods against the young, fast, up-and-coming Chicago Blackhawks, the Wild stormed back from two- and one-goal deficits to force overtime before Kirill Kaprizov, as is his custom, extended his franchise record with his 12th career overtime goal to deliver the Wild a 4-3 win at United Center.
THE THRILL 🚨
Kirill Kaprizov wins it for the @mnwild in @Energizer OT! pic.twitter.com/caSaSkUajT
— NHL (@NHL) November 27, 2025
After shutting out four of their previous seven opponents and entering Wednesday’s game with a league-high five shutouts, the Wild gave up three but still managed to extend their win streak to six games and point streak to nine games (8-0-1). It was their 10th victory in 12 November games (10-1-1). The Wild also extended their point streak against the Blackhawks to 17 games (16-0-1), including 7-0-1 in their past eight in Chicago.
“Found a way to get it done,” said Matt Boldy, who forced overtime with the tying goal and completed his 72nd career multi-point game with two assists as well. “Not our best. I think everyone knows that, but good teams find ways to win. A lot of credit to Gus for keeping us in it, and yeah, found a way.”
Filip Gustavsson made 20 of his 34 saves in the first period in a game the Wild were several steps too slow in the first 40 minutes. In a rare off night for the Marcus Johansson-Joel Eriksson Ek-Boldy line, coach John Hynes reassembled the top line into Kaprizov-Eriksson Ek-Boldy after the Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead, and it was that line that tied the score at 3-3. Boldy won a draw cleanly for a kicked-out Eriksson Ek, and Jonas Brodin’s hustle to a loose puck led to Boldy’s slam dunk.
Matt Boldy ties it for Minnesota 🚨 pic.twitter.com/6YbiKxv3sE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 27, 2025
Nico Sturm, playing his second game with the Wild since back surgery at the end of training camp, scored his first goal back in a Wild sweater since March 2022 early in the third period. Brock Faber also scored a huge goal with 14 seconds left in the second period to trim the deficit to 2-1 and assisted on Boldy’s tying goal. Brodin also had two assists.
For Kaprizov, whose snipe through Eriksson Ek’s screen came after the Blackhawks were called for a questionable interference penalty by Furman South in overtime, it was both his 69th career power-play goal to tie Zach Parise for first in franchise history and his 199th goal overall to tie Parise for third in team history.
#Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill on the controversial Ilya Mikheyev interference penalty in overtime that led to Minnesota’s game-winner: “It’s a reactionary call that, I think, my gut, if I was to climb into [the official’s] mind, is that he thought [Mikheyev] just went over… https://t.co/fn4kr60WxA
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 27, 2025
“It’s easy to play four-on-three than five-on-four,” Kaprizov said. “Overtime is more space on the ice. You can skate a little bit more and it’s easy to play three-on-three when you have the puck.” He added with a laugh, “When you don’t have the puck, its harder.”
The Wild went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against the league’s sixth-best power play, including a questionable call on Jake Middleton in the dying minutes of regulation. The Wild’s PK is now 31 for its last 34. It was a game with dubious officiating, including the Wild’s ire ratcheting up when referee Kyle Rehman missed Eriksson Ek being slashed and hooked/driven head-first into the boards in separate third-period incidents, then calling Middleton for an incorrect tripping call late in the third.
“I just really liked our team,” coach John Hynes said. “I just liked the battle and staying with it. It wasn’t our best early in the game, but I just liked the fact that we stayed with different things, whether it’s referees, whether it’s penalty kills, the power plays, the different dynamics of the game. But I felt like just staying with it, the battle, the compete and finding a way to get the job done was, I’m most proud of the guys for that.”
The Wild will take Thanksgiving off, then host the Colorado Avalanche, who are 17-1-5 this season and winners of 10 in a row, in a Friday matinee.
“When you look from start to finish right now, so far in the season, they’ve been the top team in the league,” Hynes said. “They got a lot of firepower. They’re a lot to handle, so I think we’ll digest this one and we’re obviously going to have to be at our competitive best on Friday for them. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Gustavsson superb from start to finish
For the fourth time this season, the goaltender who shut out an opponent in the previous game didn’t start the next one. But Hynes feels both goalies deserve to play because they’ve been on top of their game, so Jesper Wallstedt started the Winnipeg Jets game after Gustavsson shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins and Gustavsson started against the Hawks after Wallstedt blanked Winnipeg.
Gustavsson was locked in early and had to be; as Boldy said, “They were ready to go and we weren’t.”
Sarcastically, Gustavsson, who made 19 saves in Pittsburgh, said, “They gave me an easier night in Pittsburgh there, so I had a lot of energy there to burn in the first period and made some saves.”
Hynes said, “We weren’t sharp, but he was really sharp early. He gave us the opportunity to continue to push and get ourselves playing the way that we need to play. And it was off and on. But every night you might not be at your best, but the mindset of the group tonight is something that I think we can draw on moving forward, that you got to keep fighting and keep battling, regardless of what happens, and you got to try to make a game of it. And we did.”
Sturm finds new way to help
Sturm isn’t known as an offensive dynamo. In fact, he was acquired to help the Wild on the penalty kill and in the faceoff circle, so he didn’t love the fact he was 1 for 9 against the Blackhawks.
But after what could have been a momentum-breaking lifeless power play to open the third period, it was Sturm who scored on a redirection of Brodin’s shot to tie the game at 2-2.
anywayyyyy look at Nico’s goal pic.twitter.com/hjUb7RSH2C
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 27, 2025
“I got taken behind the shed in the circle, so I helped the team in another way,” Sturm said. “Thankfully I was able to do something out there. Obviously it was not pretty today. Not the way you want to play the game the first two periods. Third period was like us again, and special teams was good, so those were two bright spots — the response in the third period and the special teams. But not what we want to start the game.”
Sturm was only playing his second game since returning to the Wild, so timing will continue to be a work in progress in the faceoff circle. But he did play a huge part in the penalty kill.
“I think physicality, tempo, skating-wise actually pretty good,” Sturm said. “The circle right now is tough, the timing is just so hard. I think I’ve gotten kicked out 10 times in these two games. It’s just so hard to get the timing right and guys have probably taken 300 draws already this season and whatnot, so it’s kind of hard to get in there. But that will come. I’m not too worried about that. The kill obviously has been good, I think a pretty seamless transition. I’m glad I found some areas today where I could help with the team.”
Foligno hurt in Foligno Faceoff
As Marcus and Nick Foligno have said, playing against each other has gotten quite stale. But what doesn’t get stale is off nights in the other brother’s city. Nick can spend time with Marcus’ three daughters and Marcus, like he did Tuesday night playing mini sticks, can spend time with Nick’s three children.
“That’s really special,” Marcus said before the first rendition of this year’s Foligno Faceoff to raise money for breast cancer in honor of their mom, Janis, who died of the disease. “We were talking about that last night at dinner, just, like we know that Nick might be at the end of the road here soon, but it never gets old. It gets old playing him, but not that.”
Nick couldn’t play Wednesday night because of an arm injury, but he took part in the opening puck drop. Fans can donate to Team Marcus and Team Nick. After each game, the brother on the losing team will have to do a consequence. The first one will come on Thanksgiving when brother Nick will have to wear a Team Marcus shirt and read a toast written by Marcus.
Unfortunately, Marcus didn’t get through Wednesday’s game. He was hurt late in the second period when he got tangled in the corner and was slow to the bench favoring his left leg. He was limping slightly after the game and Hynes didn’t have an update but hoped it wasn’t serious.
On Wednesday morning, Marcus said his dad Mike and sisters Cara and Lisa are proud of the Foligno Faceoff endeavor.
“Dad gets touched by this stuff, and Lisa and Cara are in marketing, so they come up with a lot of the ideas for Nick and me,” Marcus said. “Our sisters are both definitely big, impactful people in our lives, especially minus our mother. Nick and I have that pedestal where we can raise funds by being in the NHL, but our sisters behind the scenes do so much stuff and you’re reminded of your mother through their impacts on our lives.”
Awful night for the fourth line
The Liam Ohgren-Ben Jones-Tyler Pitlick line had as bad a night as you can imagine.
Pitlick, in fact, looked like he was about to be benched until Foligno’s injury late in the second. He iced the puck twice and in the second period cross-checked Ryan Donato right on top of Gustavsson. In 3:28 of five-on-five ice time, the line got outattempted 12-1. Overall, Jones was on for 17 shot attempts against and just three for, while Ohgren was at 17-4.
Pitlick did help Sturm dig out the puck and get it up to Jake Middleton before swinging it to Brodin en route to the big Sturm goal early in the third.