Wild rally from three-goal deficit to beat Blackhawks in a shootout

The rivalry between the Wild and Blackhawks is still one-sided.

Chicago blew a three-goal lead to the Wild, who rallied 4-3 in a shootout Tuesday night, Jan. 27, at Grand Casino Arena to push their point streak against their Central Division foe to 18 games.

“We’ve scored more than three goals in half a game before,” Marcus Johansson said. “You gotta stick with it.”

Kirill Kaprizov scored the only goal in the shootout to complete the Wild’s comeback after the Blackhawks blanked on a 4-on-3 power play in overtime.

The Wild penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5.

“Our PK was brilliant today,” said rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who made 11 of his 29 saves shorthanded while ending his three-game skid. “We were strong in the faceoff dot, which helped us clear the puck earlier. I thought we were strong on pucks. Blocked a lot of shots, and helped me out a lot.”

Captain Jared Spurgeon netted the tying goal with 2:02 to go in the third period, backhanding in a rebound at the side of the net after Joel Eriksson Ek scored earlier in the period. Yakov Trenin had the Wild’s first goal late in the second period against Spencer Knight (20 saves) after the Blackhawks ran away 3-0 thanks to Teuvo Teravainen, Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev.

“What I really like is that we did not have a good start to the game,” coach John Hynes said, “but it wasn’t that we just faded into the night.”

With their moms along for the team’s road trip, the Blackhawks started strong, capitalizing only 1:19 into the first period when Teravainen whacked in a bouncing puck that got loose behind Wallstedt in the Wild crease.

Chicago doubled its lead with 4:46 to go in the period off a Wild turnover: Brock Faber’s no-look, between-the-legs clear flew by Danila Yurov and right to the former Wild forward Donato, who walked into a one-timer.

“In the first period, they were the better team,” Hynes said. “I thought they were quicker, faster, harder on pucks.”

BOX SCORE: Wild 4, Chicago 3 (SO)

Then, 5:54 into the second period, Mikheyev cashed in off the rush on a far-side shot by Wallstedt, who has given up at least three goals in his last four starts.

The Wild regained some momentum when Trenin scored similarly, rushing into the Blackhawks’ zone and wiring the puck by Knight’s blocker at 12:33.

Kaprizov had a chance to move the Wild one goal closer during a 4-on-1 rush, but the winger’s attempt hit the side of the net.

“We battled ourselves back a little bit better in the second,” Hynes said. “But then in the third, I thought we really got to the game that we needed to get to.”

The Wild killed off a Chicago power play to begin the third period, and by 3:57, they trailed only 3-2 after Eriksson Ek got on the end of a Quinn Hughes shot that caromed off Johansson’s skate. Eriksson Ek’s goal was his second in as many games, and Hughes extended his point streak to six games.

“Just trying to find loose pucks,” Eriksson Ek said about his role on the play. “Having a defender with you and just trying to either open up space or screen or get a rebound. Yeah, Spurgy came up with a big goal.”

After Wallstedt made five stops in overtime, he denied Donato in the shootout after Frank Nazar went wide and Connor Bedard lost the handle and never registered a shot. Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy were denied for the Wild.

“He settled in and obviously came up big for us the rest of the game from there,” Hynes said of Wallstedt. “Then I also think that the group in front of him did, as well.”

This was the Wild’s first three-goal comeback victory since their 10-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 19, 2024.

“We are a very strong group, and the guys on the team are super resilient,” Wallstedt said. “Going out in the third, we knew our best periods are usually the third. We knew we were well prepared, and we knew we’ve worked hard all summer for the end of games.

Comebacks haven’t had to be the Wild’s forte this season: Of their 30 victories, they’ve rallied only nine times.

But it’s a good skill to have, and they used it appropriately.

Although the Wild have four victories in their last six games, they haven’t won more than two in a row since their seven-game tear Dec. 8-20. There’s been some unevenness to their play, but they had to lock in to chip away against Chicago.

Perhaps that can be the catalyst they’ve lacked lately to get them on a roll before the Olympic break.