Wild extends winning streak to six, sweeps season series against Blackhawks in 4-1 win

During a battle inside the Wild zone along the boards, Erik Haula nudged the puck ahead to Nino Niederreiter as they broke through the neutral zone. Nino drew three Blackhawks on the far boards, while Haula broke to the net. A nicely feathered pass to a wide open Haula resulted in a two goal lead for the Wild.

Minnesota ended 0-for-3 on the power play while killing all three Blackhawks power plays. It was a lower shooting affair as the final shot tally was 19-18 for Chicago. Erik Haula finished with a team high three shots, a goal, an assist, and was 57 percent in the faceoff dot. Niederreiter had a goal, an assist, and two shots on goal, in just 14:28 of ice time. Now plus/minus is a useless stat, but Patrick kane was a -3 on the night, held pointless, and three shots on goal. Duncan Keith saw 4:19 of ice time before he was sent to the dressing room in the first period.

As for Keith, a match penalty carries an automatic one-game suspension, and Chicago beat writer Mark Lazerus believes it will be more than one game once the league gets a chance to review the play.