Despite its health issues, Wild rallies but falls short

CHICAGO - The mumps are yesterday's news. The next nasty malady slithering through the Wild locker room is a stomach bug.

One week after Charlie Coyle missed practice because of a stomach ailment, and with the Wild already missing Jared Spurgeon for a second consecutive game because of a stomach ailment, the Wild found out 2½ hours before Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks that Darcy Kuemper couldn't make his scheduled start because of a stomach ailment.

Niklas Backstrom got the surprise start and then naturally got sick himself in the first period with the same stomach issue. Knowing the Wild had nobody to replace him, Backstrom battled through a Wild third-period comeback before the team fell 5-3 to the Blackhawks following a debatable penalty the Wild grumbled about afterward.

After the Wild rallied in the third from two goals down on Nino Niederreiter's penalty shot and Marco Scandella's bomb, Erik Haula was whistled by referee Dan O'Rourke for hooking Patrick Kane near the blue line in a 3-3 game with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left.

The Wild bench erupted with anger, and to add insult to injury, Kane's intended pass for Patrick Sharp from behind the net deflected off Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin's skate and by Backstrom.

"That time in a hockey game in a tie game, a one-handed hook on a dead play? Pretty frustrating," a bristling coach Mike Yeo said. "That's the difference in the game."

Now one has to wonder who starts Wednesday's home game against the Boston Bruins.

In Chicago, the Wild put forth a solid first period and took a 1-0 lead on Thomas Vanek's fourth goal. All was fine in the second period until Brent Seabrook, taking advantage of the Wild basically playing short a player because he got away with elbowing Justin Fontaine, tied the score.

That goal, at 8:10, turned the momentum and the Wild stood around watching the Blackhawks buzz the rest of a 21-shot period. Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews scored to give Chicago a 3-1 lead.

But the Wild rallied in the third when Niederreiter and Scandella scored 2:50 apart. Niederreiter's team-leading 14th came off a penalty shot, a beautiful move in which he deked twice and roofed a backhander.

The Wild killed a late Brett Sutter minor, but then Haula reached his stick parallel to Kane's waist. Kane lost the puck out of the zone and the star got the benefit of the call. Kane made it 4-3 with 3:28 left on a goal even the Blackhawks called "lucky."

"It's four minutes left and [O'Rourke] decides to decide a good hockey game with a weak penalty like that," Haula said.

In the end, Niederreiter said it was a "horrible second period" and not Haula's penalty that cost Minnesota.

Backstrom noted how the Wild played a great first and third period by doing all the small details right. That changed in the second.

"You just have to find a way to be better so it's not going to be about one call or one bounce," Backstrom said. "Look at that team, they're doing all the small things every night.

"That's why they're always on the top of the standings. It's always a challenge to play against them. We want to measure and learn from them so next time we can be better."