Ryan Hartman scored the go-ahead goal with 3:13 remaining in the third period to lift the host Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul.
Hartman, who started his career with the Blackhawks, stung his former team with a wrist shot. It marked his career-high 25th goal and his second in as many games.
Frederick Gaudreau and Jordan Greenway also scored one goal apiece for Minnesota, which won its second game in a row and improved to 4-1-1 in its past six contests.
Seth Jones scored the lone goal for Chicago, which is winless in three of its past four games.
The Wild finished off a four-game regular-season sweep against the Blackhawks. Chicago has not beaten Minnesota since Dec. 15, 2019.
Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 21 of 22 shots to improve to 24-12-1 on the season.
On the opposite side of the rink, Blackhawks goaltender Kevin Lankinen turned aside 31 of 33 shots but dropped to 3-8-4.
The Wild grabbed a 1-0 lead with 3:24 remaining in the first period. Gaudreau took a pass from Kevin Fiala and ripped a rising wrist shot past Lankinen’s glove side for his ninth goal.
That remained the score until midway through the third period, when the Blackhawks finally pulled even on a wrist shot by Jones from the left circle. The sequence snapped a 35-game goal drought for Jones, who last scored Dec. 2 against the Washington Capitals.
Hartman put Minnesota on top for good late in the third period. Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov earned assists on the goal.
Greenway added an empty-net goal in the final minute to finish the scoring. He led the Wild with six shots on goal, while Hartman and Kaprizov had five shots apiece.
Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic made his NHL debut four days after signing an entry-level contract with the team. The 6-foot-6 blue-liner, who recently completed his junior season at Boston University, logged 6:10 of ice time and blocked a shot.
–Field Level Media
