ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild have faced each other a lot the past few seasons, especially when you factor in the postseason series. But if we got a whole series like Tuesday night's game, I don't think anyone would argue against it.
Great energy, great action, great performances, including a big one from the Blackhawks' captain. But we'll get to that soon enough. Here are the notables from the Blackhawks' 5-3 victory over the Wild.
What Worked: The Blackhawks' second-period response. The last time the Blackhawks were here they took a lead but watched the Wild come back with a fury. You wondered if the same would happen on Tuesday night after Mikael Granlund's power-play goal tied the game 1-1 early in the second. But the Blackhawks turned up the intensity, retaking the lead just 41 seconds later (Richard Panik) and putting the Wild on the defensive the rest of the period. The Blackhawks outshot the Wild 13-5 in the second.
What Didn't Work: The penalty kill. The Blackhawks only took two penalties on Tuesday night but they were both costly. The Wild – namely Mikael Granlund – made them pay with two power-play goals, including one with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. The Wild have shown this season that they won't go away quietly in any game. They just about came back in this one, thanks to their power play.
Star of the game: Jonathan Toews. Yeah, you're all shocked at this one, aren't you? The goaltenders stole the show in the first period by the end of this one, it was all Toews all the time with a five-point night that included his fourth career regular-season hat trick. Coach Joel Quenneville said during Toews' struggles that he figured the captain would turn it around at some point. And here we are. "Jonny's done so many things for us," Quenneville said. "An amazing player, as competitive as you'll ever find. What a great leader, great captain."
He Said It: "We want to get that top spot and chasing that [Minnesota Wild] team, it's a huge win on the road. Hopefully we can keep playing that same style. It's a lot of fun to play. We have all four lines going and we're doing a lot of good things. Hopefully we can keep this going." Nick Schmaltz on the Blackhawks' current game.
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By the Numbers:
400 – Career victories for coach Joel Quenneville behind the Blackhawks bench.
7 – Consecutive road victories for the Blackhawks which, according to them and Elias Sports, ties a franchise record originally set Dec. 9-29, 1964.
13 – Points for Richard Panik (six goals, seven assists) since Jan. 22.
100th – Career game for Dennis Rasmussen.
2 – Career five-point games for Jonathan Toews. His previous one came Nov. 25, 2011 against the Anaheim Ducks.