ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal 3:09 into overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks over the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild 4-3 Wednesday.
Ryan Suter was called for holding midway through the overtime, and with the man advantage, Toews slipped a rebound between the skates of goalie Darcy Kuemper. Chicago closed within five points of the Wild for the conference lead.
Toews also had two assists, and Richard Panik had a goal and an assist. Corey Crawford stopped 35 of 38 shots as the Blackhawks snapped an eight-game regular-season losing streak against Minnesota.
Nino Niederreiter had two assists for the Wild, and Kuemper had 28 saves.
Minnesota’s Erik Haula scored with 3:03 left in the third period to tie it 3-3. Defenseman Marco Scandella carried the puck from behind his own blue line deep into the Chicago zone, then feathered a backhanded pass across the goalmouth, where Haula was waiting to tip it past Crawford.
The Wild entered with a strong lead in the Central Division and have played two fewer games than second-place Chicago. However, Minnesota played Tuesday night at Winnipeg, while the Blackhawks had been resting since a Feb. 4 game at Dallas.
Perhaps feeling the effect of that late-night flight, the Wild looked sluggish early as Chicago raced to a 2-0 lead. Ryan Hartman started the scoring at 10:54 of the first period when Vinnie Hinostroza carried the puck deep into the Minnesota zone and centered to the slot, where Hartman one-timed it past Kuemper.
Chicago doubled its lead 1:09 into the second period as Toews found Nick Schmaltz alone in front of the net for an easy tap-in.
Minnesota got one back 37 seconds later when Jared Spurgeon finished a rush with a wrist shot over Crawford’s left shoulder.
That goal energized the Wild, who outshot the Blackhawks 19-10 in the second period and dominated the next 15 minutes of play.
Zach Parise tied it at 7:15 of the second on a disputed goal. Charlie Coyle threw the puck toward the net, and Parise, with his back to the goal, tipped it between his legs. Crawford made the save, but Parise spun around and chipped the rebound over the goalie.
Chicago challenged the play, arguing that Parise had been offside when Minnesota’s rush began. After a lengthy delay, the officials ruled the video evidence was inconclusive and the call stood.
Late in the period, Panik put Chicago on top 3-2 when he controlled a pass from Niklas Hjalmarsson and tucked the puck just inside the post. — AP
