Kane's hat trick lifts Blackhawks past Wild

CHICAGO --Patrick Kane had a hat trick for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at United Center on Thursday.

"I think we've been playing a lot better the last 15 games or so to be honest with you," said Kane, who has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in a six-game point streak. "I know the results weren't there some nights, and even though some games we don't play our best, we're finding ways to hang in the game and come up with some points. That's a sign]*
"I thought we played a really complete game through and through," Delia said. "I think they got a lot of floater shots on net and the D did a great job of clearing them out, allowing me to see pucks down to the very end. Just through and through we had really good back pressure from the forwards and it made the D's life a lot easier."
Zach Parise and Eric Staal scored for Minnesota (17-16-3), which has lost five straight (0-4-1) and is 3-9-1 in its past 13 games.
"Yeah I mean, we came out with some good energy," Staal said. "It's 1-1, you're hoping for more than a 1-1 game with some of the zone time and looks that we had. I think we could have done a better job of getting more inside and on some of those loose pucks."

Devan Dubnyk allowed three goals on 10 shots before being pulled in the second period. He was replaced by Alex Stalock, who made eight saves.
"I hate pulling goalies, but I didn't think he was seeing the puck well," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Kane gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period. Gustafsson faked a slap shot at the point before skating in and sending a cross-ice pass to Kane, who scored glove side.
It was the sixth time in its past eight games Chicago has scored first after allowing the first goal in each of its previous 11.
Parise scored two seconds after a power play ended to tie it 1-1 at 15:00, getting the rebound at the top of the crease after Delia stopped Staal on a wraparound attempt.
Saad gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead 23 seconds into the second period with a wrist shot in the slot after gathering a pass from Toews that bounced off Jason Zucker's stick.
Kane extended the lead to 3-1 at 3:53 on the power play, scoring on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Gustafsson. Toews had an assist on the play for his 400th in the NHL.
Saad scored to make it 4-1 at 12:17 of the third period with a power-play goal. Stalock skated out of his net to play the puck, but his pass hit Alex DeBrincat, who passed to Saad in the slot.
It was the first time Chicago scored two power-play goals in a game this season.
Staal scored on a rebound in the crease to cut it to 4-2 at 19:09, but Kane completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:33 to make it 5-2.

They said it

"I thought we had a lot of good opportunities. A lot of rebounds were lying there and we would get sticks on them, we just couldn't finish. These guys know how to score goals and it's too bad they're not coming right now. No one's going to feel sorry for us. We have to go out and work harder for them." -- Wild defenseman Ryan Suter
"I don't think we played the best tonight, but we just found a way to win. That's something we've got to learn to do in here. We don't have our best some nights. I thought Delia was unreal in net and really held the fort for us." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane

Need to know

Kane has scored at least 20 goals in 12 consecutive seasons, third in Blackhawks history behind Bobby Hull (13; 1959-60 to 1971-72) and Stan Mikita (14; 1961-62 to 1974-75). … Toews is tied with Pierre Pilote for eighth in Blackhawks history in assists. … Delia is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .964 save percentage in two starts with Chicago this season.

What's next

Wild:At the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks:At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)