RECAP: Blackhawks Unable to Overcome Wild in Overtime

CHICAGO -- Kirill Kaprizov scored a power-play goal at 1:38 of overtime to give the Minnesota Wild their sixth straight victory, 4-3 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Wednesday.

Kaprizov scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle after Chicago forward Ilya Mikheyev was called for interference against Joel Eriksson Ek at 53 seconds.

“It’s easier to play 4-on-3 than 5-on-4,” Kaprizov said. “Overtime is more space on the ice. You can skate a little bit more and it’s easier to play when you’re with the puck.”

Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists, and Brock Faber had a goal and an assist for the Wild (13-7-4), who extended their point streak to nine games (8-0-1). Jonas Brodin had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson made 34 saves.

“There was a lot going on,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “I just really liked our team. I just liked the battle and staying with it. It wasn’t our best early in the game, but I just liked the fact that we stayed with it, whether it’s referees, whether it’s penalty kills, the power plays, the different dynamics of the game. I felt like staying with it, the battle, the compete and finding a way to get the job done, I’m most proud of the guys for that.”

Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and Artyom Levshunov scored his first NHL goal for the Blackhawks (10-8-5), who have lost four in a row (0-4-0). Spencer Knight made 20 saves.

“It [stinks],” Bedard said. “I thought we played a pretty good game, but just little mistakes that we'll clean up. Overall, I thought there were a lot of positives to take away. But in the end, obviously you've got to come out with the two (points).”

After the Blackhawks outshot the Wild 20-5 in the first period, Jason Dickinson put Chicago ahead 1-0 at 5:41 of the second, scoring from the slot when the puck came off the stick of Minnesota forward Yakov Trenin along the left-wing boards.

Bedard extended it to 2-0 at 12:08. Tyler Bertuzzi carried the puck into the offensive zone and passed across ice to Sam Rinzel, who quickly fed it to Bedard in front of the net.

Bertuzzi appeared to score at 16:07, but after a coach’s challenge by the Wild, the Blackhawks were ruled to have been offside entering the zone and the goal was overturned.

Faber cut it to 2-1 at 19:46 when his wrist shot from inside the right point deflected off Bertuzzi, fluttered over Knight’s right shoulder and went in off the post.

Nico Sturm tied it 2-2 at 2:17 of the third period, tipping in a shot from Brodin. It was Sturm’s first goal of the season in his second game back after recovering from a back injury that required surgery.

“Thankfully I was able to do something out there,” Sturm said. “Obviously it was not pretty today, not the way we wanted to play the game, the first two periods. The third period was obviously fantastic, and special teams were good. Those were two bright spots -- the response in the third period and the special teams. Not how we want to start the game.”

Levshunov put the Blackhawks back ahead 3-2 at 5:31. Bedard passed cross-ice to Levshunov, who skated through the right circle and scored on a backhander.

Levshunov, a 20-year-old defenseman, was the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

“I was excited,” he said. “So happy. It was a good game for me. World goes on.”

Boldy then tied it 3-3 at 10:35, scoring from in front after taking a backhand pass by Brodin from behind the net.

Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said he felt his team played well enough to win the game.

“Yeah, it’s tough,” he said. “You’re going to win that game more than not but it’s part of the learning process for us. I thought there were times throughout the year we did a good job of either coming back or winning those close games. We went through a stretch where we did a really good job of it. Now, we’ve given up a couple of leads here in the last few games.

“I’m glad we’re in that spot, but part of the learning process is to find a way to make sure there’s no way to lose that game. We played too good to lose it. That’s what we’re trying to figure out here, is just grinding and getting better.”

NOTES: Wild forward Marcus Foligno did not play in the third period after sustaining an apparent injury late in the second. Hynes said he was unsure of Foligno’s status. … Kaprizov scored his 12th career overtime goal, which is tied with William Nylander for the second most by any player since he entered the League in 2020-21, behind Sebastian Aho (13). … Levshunov (20 years, 29 days) became the third-youngest defenseman to score his first career goal with the Blackhawks over the past 10 years, behind Adam Boqvist (19 years, 80 days on Nov. 3, 2019) and Kevin Korchinski (19 years, 141 days on Nov. 9, 2023).