Ryan Hartman scored the go-ahead goal with 1:11 remaining in the third period to fuel the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minn.
Hartman gave the Wild a 2-1 lead after converting a partial breakaway for his 13th goal of the season and third in his last six games. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
Frederick Gaudreau sealed the win 40 seconds later by scoring into an empty net.
Ryan Reaves scored in the second period and Filip Gustavsson made 22 saves for the Wild (42-22-9, 93 points), who improved to 14-1-4 in their last 19 games overall and 8-0-0 in the last eight meetings versus the Blackhawks. The teams will conclude their four-game season series in Chicago on April 10.
Lukas Reichel scored early in the third period and Saint Paul native and former Wild member Alex Stalock turned aside 22 shots for the Blackhawks (24-42-6, 54 points). Chicago has mustered just four goals during its four-game losing skid.
Minnesota benefited from a fortunate bounce to open the scoring at 7:45 of the second period. Reaves skated out from behind the net and sent a backhand shot that caromed off Chicago’s Jason Dickinson and past Stalock for the Wild forward’s fifth goal of the season and fourth in his last seven games.
Reichel converted a two-on-one rush with Andreas Athanasiou to forge a 1-1 tie at 1:15 of the third period. Reichel elected to keep the puck and wired a shot past Gustavsson for his fourth goal of the season and third in his last 10 games.
Minnesota defenseman John Klingberg sat out his second straight game due to an upper-body injury.
Blackhawks forward Reese Johnson registered five hits in his return to lineup following a 16-game absence due to a concussion.
–Field Level Media
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