RECAP: Blackhawks 5, Wild 2

RAPID REACTION:Collin Delia was stellar between the pipes, stopping 46 shots, the power play came through and Patrick Kane scored three as the Blackhawks handled the visiting Minnesota Wild 5-2.
Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period, scoring his 18th of the season by stopping a pass from Erik Gustafsson with his skate and then firing the puck past Devan Dubnyk.
Zach Parise scored his 16th of the season at 15:00 of the first to even the score at 1-1.
Brandon Saad buried a shot from the slot just 23 seconds into the second period to give Chicago a 2-1 edge.

Kane scored his second of the game and 19th of the season at 3:53 of the middle frame, hammering home a one-timer.
Saad made it 4-1 on the power play when he sniped a shot from inside the circle at 12:17 of the final period.

The Wild got one on the board with 50.3 seconds remaining in the game and with their goalie pulled for the extra attacker to make it 4-2, but the game was well out of reach by that point.
Kane completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal with 26.9 seconds left to finish off the victory.
Delia was the big story in this one impressing in his second start of 2018-19. The 24-year-old netminder has now stopped 81 of 84 shots he's faced this season and is 2-0-0.
KING KANE:Kane took back the team-lead in goals with his 18th of the season in the first, overtaking Alex DeBrincat (17). With Jonathan Toews not far behind (16), Kane gave himself a two-goal edge with his 19th of the year in the second period, on the power play, and then made it a three-goal buffer with his 20th of the season and hat-trick tally late in the game.

SAAD BREAKS THROUGH:Brandon Saad scored his first goal since Dec. 12 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had gone the previous six games without a goal, his second-longest drought of the season. Saad scored his second of the game in the third on the power play.
POWER-PLAY PROGRESS:The Blackhawks have scored on the man advantage at least once in four of their last five games. They scored twice in this one.
TALKING POINTS:"He's been good. Can't say I'm not surprised that he's performing as he has. He's very self-aware and I think he built up a lot of confidence last season that he was capable and could go through tough times and could go through adversity and it's not going to bother him. He had played a game or two last year and so he's ready. It's fun to watch. He's been good for us." - Head Coach Jeremy Colliton on Delia's performance

"I haven't really thought much about my own performance, just I thought we played a really complete game through and through. I think they got a lot of floater shots on net and I think the D did a great job of clearing them up, allowing me to see shots right to the very end and I think just through and through we had good back pressure from the forwards which made the D's job a lot easier." - Delia on the game
WHAT'S NEXT:Chicago will close out 2018 on the road in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The game is at 8 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on NBCSCH or heard on WGN 720.