The shootout winner was much better than the special on him before the game.
Patrick Kane put on some dizzying extra moves than he let on to Peggy in the Discover commercial, leaving Niklas Backstrom helpless to make it a quick, two-round shootout win after Jonathan Toews led it off with his usual "five-hole" thing.
Ray Emery did his part with stops on Matt Cullen and Dany Heatley, who I'm guessing was trying to pull the same move Kane did a moment later, albeit with much less success. Emery deserved this one, coming up with big saves after essentially being given the first period off, when the Wild didn't manage a single shot until three minutes remained and had just one other.
In this fifth game in their last six that went to extra time (something to keep an eye on with tie-breakers at the end of the year), Patrick Sharp did have one decent opportunity in the OT, but would not hit the overtime trifecta. This was an entertaining back-and-forth between the top two teams in the West, with the Hawks breaking out to a 2-0 lead after a scoreless first.
But the Wild rallied back to even it before the second was over. The captains exchanged goals in the 3rd, first Jonathan Toews, then Mikko Koivu. Toews reached 300 points for his career by assisting on the game's first goal, on the power play by Marian Hossa. The penalty kill went 2-for-2 but faced a third PK when Koivu scored on a delayed call.
The Hawks did get some encouraging play from the 3rd and 4th lines that have been quiet offensively of late. Dave Bolland's line had some dominant shifts the first half of the game, though he, Bryan Bickell and Andrew Brunette were on the ice for two Wild goals.
Michael Frolik's goal was just is fourth point in his last 18 games. With Brunette and Marcus Kruger scoring Sunday against San Jose, those are positive signs for offensive balance. They'll try to keep it going Friday at the United Center against the Ducks on Comcast SportsNet.