GAMEDAY: Wild at Hawks

In this compacted 48-game season, every time the Minnesota Wild hits the ice the game seems to be magnified. Well, tonight the Wild will be under the national microscope as the club tries to hand the streaking Chicago Blackhawks its first regulation loss of the season.

The first time these two teams met on Jan. 30, the Wild beat the Hawks in a 3-2 shootout, giving Chicago its first loss of the season. However, the Blackhawks have gained a point in its first 22 games of the season, setting a National Hockey League record for most games with a point to start a season, losing only three games in shootouts.

The Wild, and every other team in the Western Conference for that matter, wants to be the team to hand the Hawks its first blemish on the year. With the Wild playing some of its best hockey of the season of late, a win in The Windy City would be a nice notch as the club continues to try and gain footing in the West, currently more jam-packed than Rush Street on a Saturday night.  

As the Wild skates to bring down the Hawks, Torrey Mitchell will play in his 300th NHL game. In four seasons with San Jose and this one with Minnesota, Mitchell has totaled 75 points (31-44=75) and a plus-3 rating.

The Wild put together a strong performance on Sunday night, topping the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2. Minnesota outshot the Oilers, 43-21, on the way to victory. Jared Spurgeon got the Wild on the board in the first period, firing a wrist shot from the point past Edmonton netminder Devan Dubnyk. The Oilers would even the score later in the first and the teams would remain tied until nine seconds into the third period. Mikko Koivu started the Wild’s offensive burst off the opening draw with a wired wrist shot to the glove side. Charlie Coyle scored the eventual game winner with a backhand on an odd-man rush. Dany Healtey redirected an insurance goal on the power play later in the period. Niklas Backstrom closed the door on the Oilers, making 19 saves for the win.

It looked like the Detroit Red Wings might be the first team to defeat Chicago in 60 minutes of hockey, when Patrick Kane scored a power play with 2:02 left in regulation to send the game into overtime Sunday at Joe Louis Arena. After a scoreless OT, Kane used a patented slow-down, multiple-deke move to beat Jimmy Howard and give Chicago a 2-1 victory. Corey Crawford made 24 saves in the victory.