3 Takeaways: Blackhawks bounce back with character win over Wild

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The Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-3 on Sunday. Here are three takeaways:

Showtime, Showtime, Showtime

No one thought much of Patrick Kane's wraparound attempt at 7:42 of the first period after the Minnesota Wild's Kaapo Kahkonen seemingly denied him with his left pad. However, the United Center crowd went crazy when they saw the replay of the attempt on the jumbotron. After a video review, officials determined the puck completely crossed the goal line and the Blackhawks were up 1-0 on Kane's second goal in two games. 

Kane scored his second goal of the game, putting the Hawks up 2-0 at 11:33 of the first, from the slot off a give-and-go with Jonathan Toews on Chicago's first power play of the game. 

Kane scored into the Wild's empty net to put the Hawks up 5-3 at 18:57 of the third period for the final score. It was his 18th goal of the season and sixth career regular-season hat trick.

"We needed it," Kane said of the win. "You know we had a good start; kind of gave up the lead again. But overall we didn't give up too many chances (and) we gave up less shots, which is good. I still think we can improve and get better. Overall probably a step in the right direction."

Better effort

After losing four straight games - including Saturday's 4-3 contest in St. Louis - and being outscored 14-6 in their past three, the Blackhawks played much better on Sunday vs. Wild. Brandon Saad deflected in the game-winning goal, his third in two games, at 13:43 of the third period to make it 4-3 Chicago. 

"Yeah, it’s a little puck luck," Saad said. "I think last night you get a lucky one and feel good and then tonight you just get a bounce off a deflection and that's what it takes sometimes, getting to the dirty areas."

The red-hot Wild had gone 10-1-4 in their past 15 games heading into Chicago and were two points shy of a wild card spot ahead of Sunday's game.

"Right from the start I thought we were engaged and doing a lot of little things right," Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Our puck management was good, we were playing with speed and that allowed us to get off to a pretty good start. Obviously, a couple big goals. It was nice to see the puck in the net and we were able to play from ahead. We were under control." 

Blew more leads

The Blackhawks coughed up two leads in Sunday's game. The first came after Kevin Fiala scored to make it 2-2 at 1:59 of the second period for Minnesota after Chicago led 2-0 following Kane's second goal. It was the fourth time in seven games Chicago blew a multi-goal lead. Eric Staal scored the Wild's first goal at 12:37 of the first. 

The Blackhawks were also leading 3-2 in the second period (off a goal from David Kampf at 8:13), when Fiala scored again to tie it 3-3. 

Unlike on Saturday, when the Hawks allowed four third period goals from St. Louis, Chicago was able to regain the lead when it counted and finish the game victorious. 

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