Blackhawks stop Wild in OT, extend win streak to 4

Erik Gustafsson scored his second goal of the night in overtime and Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 11 games as the Chicago Blackhawks won a season-high fourth in a row, 4-3 over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minn. Kane assisted on Jonathan Toews' tiebreaking goal 15:25 into the third period. But the Wild equalized with 3:02 remaining in regulation on Victor Rask's first goal since being acquired from Carolina last month.

In overtime with the man-advantage, it was Gustafsson's second goal of the game at 1:19 into the extra session that sent Chicago on its first four-game winning streak since December 2017. While Minnesota is trying to remain in the mix for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Chicago is just trying to make its way into playoff position. Both teams returned to action Friday for the first time since the All-Star break. The Blackhawks didn't show much rust in routing in Buffalo 7-3. However, the Wild managed just 22 shots in a 3-1 loss at Dallas.

It was the Wild, though, who got on the board first in this contest. Jason Zucker took a slick feed from Mikael Granlund at 8:22 into the first period to give Minnesota a power-play goal in its third consecutive contest. The Blackhawks, who scored first in winning two of the previous three contests against the Wild this season, had a chance to equalize later in the period but Alex Stalock stopped Brendan Perlini's penalty shot with 5:09 left. The Blackhawks tied the score 7:51 into the second on Alex DeBrincat's 26th goal of the season. They then took the lead with 5:13 to go in the period on Gustafsson's first of the night.

Minnesota's Mikko Koivu tied it at 2-2 with 11:49 left in the third. Kane has posted nine goals and 17 assists during his streak, Toews has scored five times in the last four and DeBrincat has eight goals with six assists in the last 10. Gustafsson has 15 points in 14 games.

Stalock, a backup who recently signed a three-year extension, stopped 27 shots, and several key ones during his first start since Jan. 17. Granlund, who snapped a five-game home point drought, has four assists in three games. --Field Level Media

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