CHICAGO – Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi switched places.
Wild fall to Chicago Blackhawks in overtime but emerge thrilled to grab a point with an energetic finish
The effects of the Wild’s difficult schedule — five games in eight days — showed in their out-of-sync play. The energy returned after coach John Hynes tinkered with lines.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 11, 2024 at 5:27AM
Mats Zuccarello joined Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson.
And Kirill Kaprizov? He teamed up with almost every forward.
“I think everyone played with everyone at some point,” Hartman said.
The only line that coach John Hynes didn’t scramble as he tried to stir the Wild from the slumber that was their first two periods Sunday night was the fourth, and that was the right call.
So, too, was the combination that finally clicked.
After Yakov Trenin, Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko began to wake up the Wild late in the second, the Wild’s best players extended the momentum the next period on a Matt Boldy goal from Kaprizov and Zuccarello that banked the Wild a gritty point from a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blackhawks at United Center at the end of a taxing road trip.
“We dug in,” Hynes said. “We just kept grinding and grinding and grinding, and that’s how you have to find ways to win games, get points in games. Just really proud of the mental toughness and physical toughness of the guys.”
With 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in the third period, Kaprizov picked up a puck that deflected off to Zuccarello and handed off to Boldy for a long-awaited equalizer during a rare shift together for the Wild’s top three scorers.
“Just a little bit of a feel,” Hynes said of uniting the trio. “I thought Boldy was going. Kirill and Zuc were away from each other for a little bit, and then they’re back together. I thought Boldy had some jam in the third period. Sometimes you just get a feel of different guys, and they were good.”
Earlier in the third period, Boldy had a shot hit the crossbar and post, but he didn’t miss in crunch time, registering his ninth goal to tie Kaprizov for the team lead.
“It’s nice to see it go in and get a point,” Boldy said, “but we wish we got both.”
Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev snuffed out the Wild’s rally when he wired a puck past goaltender Filip Gustavsson (20 saves) off the rush at 1:50 of 3-on-3 overtime to give the Blackhawks their first win in 13 games against the Wild, but getting even one point looked like a pipe dream during the Wild’s first two periods.
This was the team’s third game in four nights, fifth in eight days and 10th on the road to start the season. After sweeping the California portion of their trip vs. San Jose and Anaheim, the Wild left the West Coast on Saturday morning and arrived in Chicago in the evening, and their fatigue showed up in the details. They iced the puck unnecessarily, couldn’t hold the zone at the offensive blue line and didn’t have enough speed through the neutral zone to catch Chicago off guard.
In their own zone, a dump-in hopped over Jake Middleton’s stick along the boards, and the Blackhawks’ Jason Dickinson scooped up the puck before skating to the middle, where he flung the puck around Wild traffic and behind Gustavsson for an unassisted goal with 3:16 left in the first period.
In the second, Hynes started shaking up the lines.
“Sometimes as a player, you get a different line combo, you get a different guy, it kind of ignites you,” Hynes explained. “It just helps, I think sometimes, mentally. It gets guys aware on the bench. It brings some energy. You gotta know who you’re changing for. At times, that’s why you do it.”
Still, the Wild were off.
They blanked on a power play, finishing 0-for-3, and they botched a chance to take advantage of a Blackhawks scramble late in the second when goalie Petr Mrazek (32 saves) lost his goal stick and accepted Taylor Hall’s as a replacement.
“It took about 40 minutes for us to find what works for us,” Middleton said.
After an “empty the gas tank” message at the second intermission, Hartman said, the Wild returned for the third surprisingly rejuvenated, knowing they had three days off until their next game Thursday at home vs. the Canadiens.
They outshot Chicago 19-4, improved to 3-for-3 on the penalty kill to go 12-for-12 on the trip, and then they were finally rewarded on Boldy’s goal.
Kaprizov’s multipoint game streak on the road ended at eight games, one game shy of him joining Wayne Gretzky as the only players to post multiple points in nine consecutive road games. His 28 points are second in the league to Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, who has 29.
But the Wild will go back home with five more points for 23 overall, their highest total in franchise history through the first 15 games, and their 10-2-3 record is still top three in the NHL.
“Started playing in the offensive zone more and playing to what their weaknesses are, which we really didn’t exploit early,” Hartman said. “But we fought. It was a tough game overall, just trying to find it, but we did.”
Minnesota lost its fourth game in a row, this one to the league leader and a Central Division rival.
