ST. PAUL, Minn. — Connor Bedard scored a goal and defenseman Alex Vlasic made a game-saving stop as time ran out on Thursday night as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 to snap the NHL’s longest active point streak for one team against another.
Ilya Mikheyev also scored and Spencer Knight made 28 saves for the Hawks, who were 0-18-1 in their last 19 games against the Wild. Their last win in the series was on Dec. 15, 2019.
Nico Sturm scored for the Wild and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 24 of 26 shots.
With Wallstedt pulled for an extra attacker, the Wild nearly tied it in the final seconds. Knight got a piece of Quinn Hughes’ shot, but the puck trickled behind him in the crease. Before a Wild player could get to it, the 6-foot-6 Vlasic swept his stick into the crease and tucked the puck beneath his goalie.
The Wild played without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who was scratched with a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day to day.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first when Andrew Mangiapane found Mikheyev at the goal mouth for an easy tap-in. Bedard doubled the lead midway through the second when he intercepted a pass at the Wild blue line, skated in alone and beat Wallstedt with a backhander for his 28th goal of the season.
Sturm put the Wild on the board with a wrist shot that beat Knight between his skates with 4:13 to play in the second.
The Wild were unable to score during a five-on-three power play early in the third, as Matt Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko each hit the left post behind Knight.
Up next
Blackhawks: vs. Colorado Avalanche on Friday.
Wild: vs. Dallas Stars on Saturday.