Postgame Hat Trick: Blackhawks 5, Wild 2

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 5-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago on Thursday night:

1. The holiday break did nothing to cure the Wild's offensive woes.
Yet again, it was a frustrating night for Minnesota, which outshot and outchanced the Blackhawks at every turn on Thursday. The Wild returned from its four-day layoff flying, putting the first five shots on goal of the game at Blackhawks rookie goaltender Collin Delia.
Perhaps it was a bad omen then when Patrick Kane made it 1-0 4:02 into the contest on Chicago's first shot of the game.
Still, Zach Parise's goal with five minutes remaining in the first knotted things up after 20 minutes and Minnesota held a 15-4 edge in shots.
But it was a quick four-minute burst to start the second period that would doom the Wild.
First, it was Brandon Saad, scoring just 23 seconds into the period, before Kane's second of the night less than four minutes later pushed the Blackhawks lead to two goals.
For a team that has now scored just five goals over its past five games, the deficit proved too steep.
2. Parise's goal was his 16th of the season.
It's been a fantastic start to the year for the veteran winger, who played in his 35th game on Thursday night. The goal gave him one more than he scored in 42 games last season and put him at 30 points, six more than his abbreviated 2017-18 campaign.

Add them both up and its been a pretty impressive 77-game run for Parise, who has 31 goals and 23 assists during that span, which nearly equals one full 82-game slate.
3. Kane's second goal of the night snapped an impressive streak for the Wild penalty kill.
Before the break, Minnesota managed to kill 20 consecutive opponent power plays and the Wild ran that streak to 21-straight kills in the first period before Kane's short-side one-timer 3:53 into the second snapped that streak.
Minnesota entered the night ranked second in the NHL with a penalty kill success rate of nearly 87 percent, thanks in large part to the last nine games.