Game Recap: Blackhawks 2, Wild 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Spencer Knight made 28 saves for the Chicago Blackhawks, who ended the Minnesota Wild's 19-game point streak against them with a 2-1 win at Grand Casino Arena on Thursday.

The Wild's streak dated back to Feb. 4, 2020, including a 4-3 overtime win against the Blackhawks on Tuesday, their longest run in franchise history.

It was the first win for Chicago against Minnesota since Nov. 10, 2024, and first regulation road win against the Wild since Nov. 4, 2017.

“I would say, honestly, from our perspective, we really haven’t paid much attention to that,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “I’ve been part of those both ways in this League. And sometimes they go beyond the actual team, especially our team because we have so many young guys.

“But ultimately, I think we’ve played three pretty good games against Minnesota prior to this. We know they’re a great team. Always really, really well coached, and I think the fact we’ve played them hard each game, and if we come out with two points on the positive side is a good thing for us.”

Ilya Mikheyev and Connor Bedard each scored for Chicago (26-30-12), who have won three of five (3-1-1), and are seven points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference.

“It was good, a really good team over in Minnesota, a lot of really good skilled players,” Knight said. “We just stuck to our team game and just stayed with it. It’s a privilege to be in those close games. Those are games we want to be in, and it feels good.”

Nico Sturm scored the lone goal for the Wild (39-19-12), who have lost four of their past five (1-3-1). Minnesota is third in the Central Division, six points behind the Dallas Stars with three games in hand. Jesper Wallstedt made 24 saves.

“We’re going through it a little bit,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “That’s something we got to continue to, we got to work out of it. I think that’s what the situation is. So that’s what we’ll do.”

Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 16:22 of the first period when he redirected Andrew Mangiapane's backdoor pass past Wallstedt's right pad from the top of the crease.

Bedard made it 2-0 with a breakaway goal at 11:47 of the second period after Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson turned the puck over in the offensive zone. Bedard collected the puck and skated the length of the ice while fending off Johansson before lifting a backhander to the blocker side.

Sturm cut the deficit to 2-1 at 15:47 with a wrist shot that fluttered through Knight's pads from the left face-off circle. Wild forward Hunter Haight had the primary assist on the play for his first NHL point in his sixth career game.

“Those are our bars that we beat those teams, and we're not kind of not passing that bar right now,” Sturm said.

Mats Zuccarello redirected a Quinn Hughes shot from in tight that Knight stopped in the final seconds to secure the win.

“I thought guys just really committed to play the right way and play both sides of the puck,” Knight said. “And I think that showed really well in the third period for us. And just weathered the storm. I think that’s what you have to do with those close games.”

NOTES: Bedard scored his 12th career game-winning goal and passed Jonathan Toews (11) and Bobby Hull (11) for the most by a Blackhawks player age 20 or younger. ... Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov was a late scratch and is day to day with a lower-body injury. Hynes did not rule him out for Saturday against the Stars. ... Minnesota forward Bobby Brink had one hit in 14:17 of ice time in his return after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury.