Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a shootout and have now earned at least a point in each of their last 6 games.
The Blackhawks dominated the first period outshooting Minnesota 11-2, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Chicago went on power play 7:06 into the second period. While they were on it, Duncan Keith made an incredible defensive play denying Matt Cullen on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless. A frustrated Cullen resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave the Blackhawks a two-man advantage.
Marian Hossa capitalized on that power play poking home a rebound past Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom. Less than two minutes later, Michael Frolik caught a lucky bounce and scored his second goal in the last 15 games.
After a questionable waved off icing call, Kyle Brodziak took advantage of a confused Blackhawks defense and quickly cut the lead in half. Over two minutes later, Matt Cullen made up for his previous penalty and evened up the score at 2 a piece.
Just under 7 minutes into the third period, Jonathan Toews danced around a couple Wild defenders and roofed a shot past Niklas Backstrom to put the Blackhawks up 3-2.
On a delayed penalty with nearly 5 minutes to go in regulation, Mikko Koivo tied the game up at 3 after his shot deflected off of defenseman Nick Leddy and in past Ray Emery.
Overtime: scoreless. Shootout? Ray Emery denied both shooters. Jonathan Toews scored on his usual five-hole shot, but Patrick Kane’s shootout goal was the winner and arguably had the shootout goal of the year so far. Just nasty.
NOTES
- Ray Emery had another strong outing for the Blackhawks stopping 26 of 29 shots (including 15 of 16 in the third period), but most importantly, earned his third straight win.
- Jonathan Toews now has 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) in his last 9 games and has a +7 rating during that stretch.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Chicago Blackhawks head back home and take on a newly-coached Anaheim Ducks team on Friday night; puck drop at 7:30pm CT!
Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and the Cubs (kind of)…the week that was!
Read MoreFor More Great Chicago Sports Content
Get the latest Chicago sports news, analysis, and breaking stories on the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, White Sox, Sky, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, so you never miss a story on your favorite Chicago teams.
Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE
