The Blackhawks outshot the Wild 33-13 and lead 2-1 through the first two periods. In that time frame, Anders Bjork produced his first goal of the season to put his team in the lead and create an offensive spark.
With his first of the season out of the way, the left winger hopes he can continue to contribute with some more goals as the team prepares to enter their final two games of the 2022-23 campaign.
"It's a weight off my shoulders for sure," Bjork said. "It wasn't the prettiest but I'm glad one went in and then hopefully. [in these] last two games here I can show some offensive ability and contribute offensively."
With under 10 minutes remaining in the third period, Jonathan Toews looked to extend the team's lead even further with a 3-1 score and his first goal since his return to the lineup. Following the celebration, the officials called off the goal due Minnesota gaining possession of the puck that resulted in a delayed penalty call.
Following the result, Murphy noted that it didn't take away the momentum that the players built throughout the matchup. Despite the end results, he noticed players continuing to push through and stand up for each other to try and come out with a win.
"Guys were playing hard to continue to push the pace after and a guy like [Englund] steps up and fights Foligno there," Murphy said. "That's enough to give energy in itself. So, I don't think it took too much out of us other than that would be nice to get a goal there."
Heading into the final two contests against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, head coach Luke Richardson hopes that his team can focus on not turning the puck over at the blue line.
"I think coming off the four-on-four, it was just a little disjointed there, and we just didn't look good," Richardson said. "We didn't come up the ice with speed, so we turned over the puck there again. So, just seem to be kind of contagious turning the puck over at the blue line, which has been kind of an Achilles heel lately."
