Wild's sixth straight win is a big one over Blackhawks

In the grand scheme of things, going 5-for-5 against mighty Chicago this season doesn't make up for three consecutive seasons of being eliminated by the Blackhawks in the playoffs.

"It's fun right now, but we know what's happened in the postseason, it's a different animal," said red-hot center Erik Haula, who tacked on another goal and assist to his career-best nine-game point streak, the longest active streak in the NHL and the longest on the Wild this season. "We're just trying to get in right now, trying to play as well as possible and take that into the playoffs."

And that's really why Tuesday's 4-1 clipping of the Blackhawks was so significant. Sure, becoming the first team to win every game against the Blackhawks in a season series of at least five games in 76 years (Boston Bruins, eight games, 1938-39) was sweet, but further strengthening one's playoff position was sweeter.

The Wild not only regained a five-point lead on the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild-card spot with five games to play, but it also moved within four points of the Nashville Predators for the first wild-card spot.

In a tight-checking game full of drama, some nastiness (Duncan Keith was ejected and faces a certain suspension for slashing Charlie Coyle in the face), a heavyweight-like tussle between Matt Dumba and Andrew Shaw and a sense of desperation on the ice and in the stands with the game so important, the Wild took advantage of the defending Stanley Cup champs playing without two of its top defensemen by scoring three third-period goals.

Jared Spurgeon's pretty backhanded goal 4 minutes, 7 seconds into the third period after Zach Parise's relentless puck battle victory behind his own net and Mikko Koivu's silky-smooth pass broke a 1-1 tie and acted as the winner.

Afterward, the Wild's surging "shutdown line" came through offensively yet again. Nino Niederreiter set up Haula alone for his 13th goal, then Haula and Mikael Granlund assisted on Niederreiter's empty-net dagger for the Wild's sixth consecutive victory.

"You see guys like Zach blocking shots, Mikko just playing underneath sticks hard, Charlie's bleeding, Dumba's fighting, that's what it's all about," said John Torchetti, 15-6-1 as Wild coach. "That's playoff hockey for me."

Jarret Stoll, who went 12-for-13 in the faceoff circle, scored his first goal since Jan. 23 2:37 into the game after a brilliant play and pass from rookie Mike Reilly. Then, the Wild drew a five-minute major when Keith, a two-time Norris Trophy winner with a history of stick infractions, cut open Coyle with a swinging stick in retaliation for a clean, hard check.

Veteran defenseman Brent Seabrook was already out sick, so 50 minutes without Keith would prove costly.

On the five-minute power play though, the Wild went the final 4:27 without a shot and gave up a deflating shorthanded tying goal to Marian Hossa.

Coyle returned after the power play. It's unsure whether he broke his nose.

"I didn't really ask him," Torchetti said. "He was back in there, so I just went, 'How'd it go, Chuckie?' and then I tried to double-shift him."

As Koivu said, the Wild was intent on getting pucks deep and trying to wear down the Blackhawks' defense in order to take advantage in the third. It worked. The Wild ultimately broke the defensive battle that featured 37 combined shots open. Devan Dubnyk had to make only 18 saves to improve to a league-best 11-1-1 since Feb. 28.

The Niederreiter-Haula-Jason Pominville line got most shifts against the Teuvo Teravainen-Artemi Panarin-Patrick Kane line. They combined for no points and five shots. Kane and Panarin were minus-3, Teravainen minus-2.

"That's just knowing your role and taking pride in that, which we do," Haula said.

Tuesday's game had a playoff feel. The players even felt the intensity in the building.

"It's been awesome just to see everyone step up each night," Dumba said. "We've got different guys going, every one pulling weight. This is great. We're going to try to keep this thing rolling."