Blackhawks Rally From 3-1 Down But Fall in OT to Wild as Minnesota Extends Point Streak to 19 Games

Game Summary

The good news: the Blackhawks finally showed some backbone after a brutal first period and nearly pulled off one of their better comebacks of the season. The bad news: nearly isn't good enough. Minnesota scored three times in the opening 18½ minutes, Chicago spent the next 40-plus digging out of that hole, and Mats Zuccarello ripped the rug out 3:09 into overtime for a 4-3 Wild win at the United Center. The Blackhawks fall to 25-30-12.

The first period was a disaster. Minnesota outshot Chicago 16-7 and built a 3-1 lead before the intermission buzzer. Ryan Hartman got it started at 6:17 off a crisp Kaprizov feed, Marcus Johansson added his 14th of the year at 7:58, and Louis Crevier got one back at 10:47 with a slap shot from above the circle off a Frank Nazar feed. Then Andrew Mangiapane took a cross-checking penalty with 1:30 to play in the frame, and Vladimir Tarasenko immediately made it 3-1 on the power play — a wrist shot from the left circle off a Johansson pass.

Chicago climbed back into it one goal at a time. Ryan Greene knocked in a loose puck from the low slot at 14:35 of the second, with Bedard picking up the primary assist — his 36th of the season and new team high. Then, with 1:40 left in regulation and the Hawks still down 3-2, Nazar finished a 2-on-1 rush with Bedard, taking a backhand feed and burying it past Gustavsson to tie it at 3-3. United Center came alive. It didn't last. In overtime, Minnesota spent what felt like an eternity cycling in the offensive zone before Johansson found Zuccarello open at the top of the slot for the snap shot winner.

Three Stars

The New-Look Roster

There's a genuinely encouraging story buried in this loss, and it's worth separating it from the bad first period that made all of this necessary. This is a Blackhawks team that — after deadline deals sent Murphy, Dickinson and Dach to Edmonton and Foligno to Minnesota — is young, inexperienced, and not particularly deep. And yet they erased a two-goal deficit against a legitimate playoff team.

Nazar is the story right now. His tying goal with 1:40 left was his 11th of the season and gives him 4 goals and 6 assists over his last seven games — he's playing with real confidence, winning faceoffs, skating hard on pucks, and making things happen on the rush with Bedard. The two of them on the ice together late in the third, down a goal, is starting to feel dangerous. Nazar was also named the game's 2nd Star and logged 20:48 of ice time. Coach Blashill summed it up well: "I liked our response. I like the way we played the second half of the game."

Bedard finished with two assists and now has a team-high 37 helpers on the year. Louis Crevier continued his strong post-deadline play with a goal and an assist — he's finding his footing on a line where he actually has room to operate. Spencer Knight was excellent after the first period, making 33 saves on 37 shots and holding the Wild scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd to keep Chicago in striking distance. Filip Gustavsson briefly left in the third due to an equipment issue, Jesper Wallstedt stopped both shots he saw in 3:27 of emergency work, and Gustavsson came back — but the Hawks couldn't capitalize on the disruption.

It was also a significant night off the ice. The United Center gave Nick Foligno a warm tribute video during a first-period timeout — his first game back against Chicago since the March 6 trade. Foligno held his stick up and saluted the crowd. It was a genuinely nice moment in a game that was otherwise hard to watch for 20 minutes. He didn't record a point, but that's beside the point.

The power play continues to be a problem — 0-for-2 on the night, and the team gave up a Tarasenko PPG to make it 3-1. That's two goals against on the man advantage in back-to-back games after the shutout loss in Vegas. The 16 giveaways — many of them in the first period when Minnesota was suffocating Chicago in its own zone — were the real culprit in the ugly start.

Looking Ahead

The rematch is Thursday night in Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Wild are 18-0-1 against Chicago dating back to February 4, 2020 — the longest active point streak against any single opponent in the NHL. That streak isn't ending Thursday, but the Blackhawks have earned the right to go up there and compete after how they played in the second half of this game. At 25-30-12 and 62 points, they're last in the Central with roughly 15 games to play. The bigger picture is draft positioning — Chicago currently sits to benefit from the lottery, and close losses in games like this one aren't the worst outcome. But there's enough fight in this group to make things interesting down the stretch.