Kane scores twice as Blackhawks subdue Wild
CHICAGO -- Patrick Kane scored the first two goals of the game, and the Chicago Blackhawks held on for a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night at the United Center.
Ryan Hartman and Tommy Wingels also scored as the Blackhawks increased their season-best winning streak to five games. Chicago (17-11-5) improved to 10-5-2 on home ice.
Matt Dumba scored the lone goal for the Wild. Minnesota (17-13-3) has lost back-to-back games after winning the previous four in a row.
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made 27 saves to improve to 16-7-2 on the season. Crawford has not lost in regulation in his past 11 starts dating to Nov. 12 against the New Jersey Devils.
Wild goaltender Alex Stalock turned aside 42 shots but dropped to 5-5-1.
Chicago opened the scoring at 10:56 of the first period. Center Nick Schmaltz zipped a pass across the slot to Kane, who unleashed a one-timer past Stalock's glove side.
Kane increased Chicago's lead to 2-0 with 4:24 to go in the second period. Defenseman Jordan Oesterle fired a stretch pass across both blue lines as Kane cut toward the offensive zone. Kane scored on a breakaway for his second goal of the game and his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
The Blackhawks made it 3-0 at 1:41 of the third period. Hartman intercepted a clearing attempt along the boards and headed toward the right side of the crease. He chipped a shot past Stalock for his first goal since Oct. 28.
Minnesota trimmed the deficit to 3-1 when Dumba scored at 5:56 of the third period. Dumba aimed a slap shot through traffic for his third goal in the past two games, and his sixth on the season.
Wingels finished the scoring with a short-handed, empty-net goal with four minutes left.
NOTES: Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane scored his 298th and 299th career goals, which moved him past Dennis Hull for sole possession of fifth place in franchise history. The 29-year-old trails only Brett Hull (604 goals), Stan Mikita (541), Steve Larmer (406) and Denis Savard (377). ... Wild G Devan Dubnyk missed his third game in a row because of a lower-body injury. ... Blackhawks D Jan Rutta was sidelined for the second straight game because of an upper-body injury. ... Minnesota's healthy scratches were LW Marcus Foligno and D Gustav Olofsson. ... Chicago scratched RW Richard Panik and D Ville Pokka.