Blackhawks use overtime to get rare win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal with 1:51 left in overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.
Corey Crawford made 35 saves for Chicago (33-17-5), which had lost eight straight games to Minnesota. The Blackhawks, who have won three in a row, are within five points of the Wild (35-12-6) for the Central Division lead.
"Yeah, it was a huge win," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had to win the game to keep us within striking distance. … We did a lot of big things and had the start we were looking for as well. Tough to give up that one at the very end, but certainly getting the two points was important."

WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Wild Highlights
Toews had three points (one goal, two assists) and has four goals and seven assists in his past seven games.
"There was some added meaning to [this game], for our team anyways," he said. "We hadn't played since Saturday night, so it's not always easy to get back for those when you get a break. … We had some energy and tried to wear them down, but obviously it's a team that works pretty hard. They didn't go away. Nice for us to find that resiliency and find a way to get a power-play goal at the end."

Wild forward Erik Haula tied the game 3-3 with 3:03 left in the third period. Minnesota trailed 2-0 1:09 into the second period.
Vinnie Hinostroza skated up the slot and fed Ryan Hartman for a one-timer at 10:54 of the first period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Hartman has a goal in three consecutive games, 13 this season.
Nick Schmaltz made it 2-0 1:09 into the second, and Jared Spurgeon made it 2-1 37 seconds later with a wrist shot off the crossbar.
Zach Parise tied the game 2-2 at 7:15. Chicago requested a coach's challenge for offsides; the review was ruled not conclusive and the goal stood.
Richard Panik gave Chicago a 3-2 lead at 17:24.
Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves starting in place of Devan Dubnyk.
"It was a pretty even game," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said. "In the end someone has to win, someone has to lose. We take a penalty in overtime and that's a pretty good team to have on the power play 4-on-3 for two minutes."

Goal of the game

Wild defenseman Marco Scandella skated the puck into the zone and passed to the goalmouth for Haula to finish.

Save of the game

Crawford denied Chris Stewart a tying goal with 22 seconds left in the second period.
"I felt pretty good [tonight]," Crawford said. "There are times where technically I was all over the place and other times where I felt real solid and on top of my game. It was just a matter of bringing it together for the full 60 minutes or full game. I felt good. It's going to come."

Unsung performance of the game

Wild forward Charlie Coyle pushed the puck up to Parise for the primary assist on that goal. Coyle played his 284th consecutive regular-season game to pass Antti Laaksonen for the longest streak in Wild history.

Highlight of the game

Parise no-looked a shot between his legs and picked up his rebound to score a tying goal.

They said it

"That's a big compliment for us from a team like that. You usually look at the [Blackhawks] as a measuring stick to see where you are compared to everyone else. That shows we're playing the right way on most nights. We know there's still a lot of hockey and a lot of games left, so we have to make sure we keep improving and we're peaking at the right time." -- Wild forward Zach Parise
"I think our four-line rotation really has improved on this trip or in the last month or so. We're having more zone time, more pucks in their end and possession. I still think we can be more disciplined as far as giving up quality or quantity after rush, but we're getting there." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville
"I mean it'd be like getting blood out of a stone if we were to practice tomorrow. I think they left it all on the ice as I think Chicago did. That's what makes it a good game. It's two good teams going at it and it ends up in overtime." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Need to know

Chicago's last regular-season win against Minnesota was Jan. 11, 2015 (4-1). … Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane had an assist and has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his past 15 games. … Wild forward Jason Pominville had an assist to extend his point streak to three games (two goals, four assists).

What's next

Wild: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: At the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)