Wild 4, Blackhawks 1
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild scored twice in the third period and continued their regular-season mastery of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Paced by late goals from Jared Spurgeon and Erik Haula, the Wild won 4-1 on Tuesday night and have swept their five games against the Blackhawks this season.
Jared Stoll and Nino Niederreiter also scored for Minnesota (38-28-11), which got 18 saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk to win its season-high sixth consecutive game.
Chicago, which swept Minnesota in a four-game playoff series last May, got a goal from Marian Hossa and 14 saves from Scott Darling but couldn't find a way to beat the Wild in the regular season. The Blackhawks (44-26-7) have clinched a trip to the playoffs but fell to a pedestrian 3-5-1 in their past nine games.
With the score knotted 1-1, Spurgeon found the net off a long lead pass from Wild captain Mikko Koivu.
Haula extended his career-best point streak to nine games, tucking a backhander between Darling's knees. Niederreiter added an empty-net goal with 1:19 to play.
The Wild took a quick 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game when Stoll capped a two-on-one rush to the net, popping a rising shot over Darling's right shoulder. It was just the third goal for Stoll since he joined the Wild in December.
Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook was a late scratch because ofillness and they went down another defenseman later in the first period.
Duncan Keith was knocked to the ice by a check from Charlie Coyle. Lying on his back, Keith swung his stick at Coyle, catching the Wild center across the nose and cutting Coyle. Keith was assessed a match penalty for intent to injure and Minnesota got a five-minute power play.
Minnesota outshot Chicago 2-1 during the extended power play, but the lone Blackhawks shot tied the score.
After a Wild turnover in the neutral zone, Hossa and Jonathan Toews came in on a two-on-one break, with Toews passing to Hossa and Hossa chipping a shot over Dubnyk for a short-handed goal. It was the third time this season that Hossa has scored with the Blackhawks killing a penalty.
The second period was scoreless but not without entertainment for the audience, when Chicago's Andrew Shaw and Minnesota's Matt Dumba discarded their gloves for an extended fight at center ice.
The Blackhawks got two second-period power plays but failed to score as Minnesota's recent run of solid penalty killing continued.
Chicago outshot Minnesota in the second period, but the Wild had the best scoring chance when Darling thwarted a two-on-none break with a blocker save on a shot by Jason Pominville.
The teams have met in the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, with Chicago winning a first-round series in 2013 and second-round series in 2014 and 2015.
NOTES: Blackhawks C Artem Anisimov was scratched for the second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. LW Richard Panik took his place in the lineup. ... Xcel Energy Center was the safest place in Minnesota for a time on Tuesday afternoon, as members of the St. Paul Police Warrior Hockey Club scrimmaged the Chicago Police Hockey Stars in a charity game. U.S. Olympic teammates from 1980 were the celebrity coaches. Former Minnesota North Stars player Neal Broten coached the St. Paul team and Dave Christian, who spent the final two seasons of his career with the Blackhawks, coached the Chicago team. ... Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival and Wild D Nate Prosser were nominated for the Masterton Trophy, given annually to a player who exemplifies "perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship" by their respective chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.