The Blackhawks dropped to 1-4-3 in their last eight games. They lost three of four in the season series against the Wild. Minnesota jumped in front on Spurgeon's wrist shot from the high slot 5:43 into the first period. Gaudreau made it 2-0 when he beat Petr Mrazek on the goaltender's glove side from a tough angle at 7:17.

After allowing just five shots in the first two periods, the Wild had to scramble to keep the lead against Chicago in a narrow 4-2 win.

It wasn't an overly convincing win, but the Wild got the job done against one of the worst teams in the NHL on Sunday evening. They started hot, then held on and were able to avoid blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-2 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

In the middle frame, Chicago’s Nick Foligno was whistled for holding Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov, and complained a bit too forcefully about the call, drawing a second penalty. Minnesota made it 3-0 on the extended power play, as Eriksson Ek recorded his ninth goal of the season and second of the weekend.

On their seventh try, they finally eluded Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period when Spurgeon sent the puck past Mrazek’s blocker after a 4-on-2 rush for the Wild. Marco Rossi factored into the play to pick up an assist on the Wild’s past four goals, tying a team record for the second time this season.

The Chicago Blackhawks had their comeback against the Minnesota Wild come up just short despite a good third period.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild were meeting in tumultuous times. Both teams had lost their previous two games, with Minnesota losing 5-4 to the Calgary Flames the night before.