Chicago, IL – Devin Setoguchi had a goal and two assists in regulation and then scored the game winner in the shootout to lift the Minnesota Wild over the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4, at United Center.
Dany Heatley added a goal and an assist while Clayton Stoner and Kyle Brodziak also lit the lamp for the Wild, who earned their first three-game win streak since a since a seven-game run from November 28-December 10.
Josh Harding stopped 31 shots in the victory.
Patrick Kane scored twice, Patrick Sharp and Viktor Stalberg netted a goal apiece and Ray Emery made 26 saves for Chicago, which is now tied with idle Nashville for the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
Both clubs sit a point back of Detroit for the fourth spot.
To finish off the third round, Setoguchi cruised down the center of the ice and sent a wrister from the slot that snuck through the pads of Emery for the game-deciding goal.
The Wild opened the scoring at the 10:11 mark of the first period after Setoguchi split the Blackhawks defense and received a home-run pass from Heatley for a breakaway. His initial shot was stopped by the pads of Emery, but he kept jamming at it and was able to stuff it home.
Chicago responded just 34 seconds later. Nick Leddy raced down the right side of the offensive zone before backhanding a pass into the slot, where Sharp kicked the puck to his stick and lifted a wrister into the top-right corner.
Minnesota regained its lead with 6:06 left in the opening frame while on the power play when Heatley finished off a tic-tac-toe play in front with a tap-in past Emery. Heatley and Setoguchi netted helpers on the score.
The Blackhawks answered again 5:28 into the second period when Stalberg grabbed a pass in the left circle, cut towards the net and finished with a backhander past Harding's stick side.
But Minnesota recorded a pair of tallies on rebounds by Stoner and Brodziak within a 41-second span to put the Wild back on top with a 4-2 advantage.
Chicago closed the gap to one at the 8:20 mark of the middle stanza on Kane's hard wrister from the right circle through the short side, and after the Wild's Mikko Koivu was whistled for tripping with 3:01 left in the third period, Kane was left wide open in front of the net and ripped a one-timer into the twine 16 seconds later to make it a 4-4 game.
Minnesota was awarded a power play a minute later when Marcus Kruger was called for a hooking penalty, but did not convert, forcing overtime.
Neither team could push through in overtime as Emery made four saves and Harding stopped the lone shot he faced.
Game Notes
Stoner's goal was his first of the season...The game was Chicago's final home contest of the regular season...The 'Hawks finished with a 27-8-6 mark as the host...The game saw a total of 16 penalties for a combined 58 minutes...The Wild went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Blackhawks were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
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