CHICAGO (AP) — Jared Spurgeon, Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau scored to help the Minnesota Wild top the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday night.
Matt Boldy had three assists for Minnesota in the opener of a five-game trip. The Wild had lost five of six.
Chicago was limited to five shots on goal before rallying in the third period. Seth Jones scored on a power play and Frank Nazar added his third of the season at 4:16, trimming Minnesota's lead to one.
But the Wild held on in the final minutes, and Marcus Foligno closed it out with an empty-netter with 1:42 left. Filip Gustavsson finished with 18 saves.
The Blackhawks dropped to 1-4-3 in their last eight games. They lost three of four in the season series against the Wild.
Minnesota jumped in front on Spurgeon's wrist shot from the high slot 5:43 into the first period. Gaudreau made it 2-0 when he beat Petr Mrazek on the goaltender's glove side from a tough angle at 7:17.
Eriksson Ek, who turns 28 on Wednesday, added a power-play goal on a slick redirection 10:45 into the second. He has nine goals on the season after he also scored during Saturday night's 5-4 loss to Calgary.
Takeaways
Wild: There was a letdown at the beginning of the third, but they played solid defense down the stretch.
Blackhawks: The late rally wasn't enough to overcome a listless start. Mrazek finished with 24 saves.
Key moment
Chicago had a power-play opportunity after Jakub Lauko was sent off for holding with 5:04 left, but Minnesota clogged the middle in front of Gustavsson and killed it off.
Key stat
Spurgeon has scored four times against the Blackhawks this season. The captain has five goals overall.
Up Next
Wild play at Toronto on Wednesday night, and Blackhawks open a three-game trip at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
