If raising his stick in anticipation of a shot wasn’t enough of a giveaway that Brock Faber was ready for the puck, the Wild defenseman also called out to teammate Jonas Brodin, who obliged with a tape-to-tape handoff.
Wild beat Blackhawks 4-3 to end losing streak
The Wild tallied their second victory over the past seven games after getting two players back from injury, including goaltender Filip Gustavsson.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 24, 2024 at 5:32AM
“I think he would have passed to me anyway,” Faber said. “I was pretty open.”
After having a goal overturned earlier, Faber’s do-over in the third period gave the Wild their first lead that’d they’d later extend to outlast the Blackhawks 4-3 Monday night at Xcel Energy Center and ditch their season-long, four-game losing streak before a three-day holiday break.
“We played more to our identity tonight, and that shows,” Faber said. “Trying to stick with that is what we’re trying to do.”
Faber’s 2-2 tiebreaker off a one-timer only 2 minutes, 43 seconds into the third preceded an empty-netter from Marcus Foligno at 18:36 that turned into the game-winner once Chicago’s Jason Dickinson converted with 33 seconds left — a too-little, too-late push that fizzled for only the Wild’s second victory over the past seven games that included the return of goaltender Filip Gustavsson and veteran forward Yakov Trenin from injury.
The Wild will emerge from their hiatus 21-10-4, their 46 points ranking fifth in the NHL.
“We played more of the style of game that we wanted to play,” coach John Hynes said.
That structure wavered during their four-game skid, especially when they were crushed 5-0 by the Jets on Saturday for the Wild’s first shutout of the season, but their offense seemingly rebooted only 3:01 into the first period when Devin Shore cut to the middle and the puck kicked out to Faber in the slot for a put-back.
“You need money, you go to the bank. Need food, you go to the store. You want to score, you got to go to the net,” Hynes said, “and I thought the guys did that.”
But the goal was reversed after the Blackhawks challenged for goaltender interference: The Wild’s Ben Jones was in the crease and bumped Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom (23 saves) to negate a terrific effort by the fourth line.
To make matters worse for the Wild, the Blackhawks capitalized next after an unsuccessful outlet pass by Mats Zuccarello landed on Connor Bedard’s stick and although Bedard appeared to lose the handle on his shot, the puck slide five-hole on Gustavsson at 6:47.
The Wild answered back at 11:11, when Kirill Kaprizov buried a can’t-miss tap-in after a Marco Rossi deflection hit the post and bounced right to him.
Kaprizov’s 23 goals are tied for second in the NHL, and his 50 points are tied for fourth.
Both sides traded goals again in the second, with the Wild once again playing catch up after Nick Foligno polished off the rebound from a 3-on-2 for Chicago at 6:16 that Gustavsson initially stopped.
Only 49 seconds later, Jared Spurgeon slung a backhander by Soderblom during another quality shift by the Wild’s fourth line; this was the first goal the Wild tallied without Kaprizov on the ice since Frederick Gaudreau’s second-unit power-play marker during the 7-1 clunker to the Oilers on Dec. 12.
Trenin’s assist was his first of two after missing five games with an upper-body issue Trenin hoped would sideline him for only one. His linemate Shore, who has appeared in every Wild game except one since Nov. 21 as an injury call-up from the minors, also picked up an assist for his first point with the Wild.
“We were kind of calm and see the play and made the play instead of force it or throw it away,” Trenin said.
During a make-or-break third, the Wild were first to take control.
Faber’s shot came off a slick play by Brodin, who skated the puck deep into the offensive zone and deftly avoided Blackhawks pressure to find Faber.
With the lead, the Wild continued to test Chicago, including on their first and only power play; for the second time this season, the Wild didn’t commit a single penalty.
Gustavsson finished with 28 saves after sitting out four games because of a lower-body injury.
While backing up Marc-Andre Fleury during the Dec. 14 game vs. Philadelphia, Gustavsson mentioned he wasn’t confident playing the next day against Vegas.
“It felt fine out there,” said Gustavsson, who ranks third in the league in save percentage (.921) and fourth in goals-against average (2.28). “It’s always gonna be on your mind a little bit when you’re back playing, and hopefully I can just keep playing and it’s gonna fade away a little bit.”
Still on the mend are forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Jakub Lauko and defenseman Jake Middleton, but everyone will get downtime before the Wild’s next game Friday at Dallas when a fresh start is awaiting the team.
“Every team has lost four games,” Faber said. “I didn’t think we played bad in some of them. We played bad in some of them. It’s a good reset for us, end on a good note, enjoy the holidays and come back refreshed.”
A four-game win streak ended against Chicago on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center.
