ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild has struggled against most of its rivals in the Central Division but not the Blackhawks.
A 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon in front of 19,226 at Xcel Energy Center completed a season sweep of Chicago, a four-game blitz that also meant back-to-back wins overall for the Wild to keep the team third in the division.
This was the Wild's first triumph against a Central opponent since the last time it faced the Blackhawks, a 5-0 shutout on Feb. 2. In between the Wild went 0-4 vs. the division.
Ryan Hartman scored with 3 minutes, 13 seconds to go in the third period, snapping a 1-1 stalemate after Seth Jones' rising shot 8:57 into the third period spoiled Wild goalie Cam Talbot's shutout bid. Before then, Talbot rattled off 18 consecutive saves and finished with 21 total.
At the other end, Kevin Lankinen made 31 stops.
Frederick Gaudreau opened the scoring against Lankinen at 16:36 of the first period, accepting a Kevin Fiala pass and wiring the puck in from the slot. Fiala's assist notched a new career high in points for the winger at 55.
That lead help for the rest of the first and all the second, with Talbot making a slew of key stops in the process. He got across in time to block a Kirby Dach one-timer on a penalty kill late in the middle frame and also denied Dominik Kubalik before the period ended.
In the third, Talbot also had a breakaway save against Boris Katchouk before Jones' equalizer.
But the Wild retaliated in the aftermath, as Hartman polished off a passing play with linemates Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello for his 25th goal of the season.
Jordan Greenway added an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining, his third goal in as many games.
Neither power play scored, with the Wild going 0 for 3 and Chicago 0 for 2.
