Blackhawks at Wild
The Minnesota Wild seemingly faced a gimme in their last game, only to unravel when the league's worst team refused to concede what appeared to be a certain victory. Minnesota will attempt to rebound from a stunning overtime loss to Arizona when it continues a five-game homestand against the reeling Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.
Locked in a battle for the second wild card in the Western Conference, the Wild coughed up a three-goal lead in a 4-3 loss to the Coyotes, although they managed to run their point streak to 11 games (8-0-3). "You're fighting for your playoff lives and you come up and you blow a 3-0 lead to a team that isn't going to be in the playoffs," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You can't be successful if you do that." Saturday's matchup is the opener of a three-game road trip for the Blackhawks, which might not be a bad thing given their head-scratching struggles on home ice. Chicago arrives in Minnesota mired in a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and having dropped six in a row at home to remain anchored in the Central Division cellar.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (24-22-8): The month-long offensive funk shows no signs of abating for Chicago, which has been limited to two goals or fewer in nine of the past 12 games since an 8-2 drubbing at Ottawa on Jan. 9. "Lately it’s been a little dry, but I think we still have it in this room to put it together and score goals," said leading scorer Patrick Kane. "We have a lot of guys that have done it over their careers and in the past.” Captain Jonathan Toews halted an 11-game drought Thursday with his 15th goal.
ABOUT THE WILD (29-19-6): Eric Staal is on a hot streak with four goals in four games and has collected 12 points in his last nine, but he has just one point -- a goal -- in four matchups against Chicago this season. Devan Dubnyk fell to 13-2-4 at home with Thursday's loss but one of the two regulation defeats was a 2-0 setback at the hands of the Blackhawks on Nov. 4. Minnesota's power play has produced 10 goals over the past 10 games, but it has allowed nine tallies with the man advantage during the same span.
OVERTIME
1. Chicago has scored first in eight of its last nine games, including all four contests during the current skid, but is 2-5-2 in that span.
2. Minnesota D Viktor Loov, acquired from New Jersey Devils on Thursday, practiced with the team Friday.
3. Blackhawks recalled Carl Dahlstrom and put fellow D Jan Rutta on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 6.