NHL: Wild deju vu - Minnesota again beats Blackhawks 4-3 beyond regulation

Mats Zuccarello scored at 3:09 of overtime, and Marcus Johansson contributed a goal and two assists as the visiting Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Tuesday, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Brock Faber added three assists for the Wild, who ended an 0-2-1 run. Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Minnesota, while Filip Gustavsson made 21 saves. Jesper Wallstedt briefly replaced Gustavsson in the third period and stopped both shots he faced before Gustavsson returned to the game.

Minnesota improved to 3-0-0 against Chicago this season, with all three meetings requiring overtime or a shootout and ending with the same final score. The season series concludes in Minneapolis on Thursday.

Chicago’s Frank Nazar forced overtime with a goal at 18:20 of the third period. Connor Bedard collected a breakout pass from Artyom Levshunov and delivered a backhanded cross-ice pass from the left circle to Nazar, who scored. Nazar and Louis Crevier each finished with a goal and an assist, while Ryan Greene also scored for the Blackhawks. Bedard recorded two assists as Chicago fell to 2-1-2 in its past five games.

The Wild dominated in overtime. Quinn Hughes hit the post moments before Zuccarello beat Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight, who made 33 saves, with a snap shot for the game-winner.

Hartman and Johansson gave Minnesota an early advantage, scoring 1:41 apart in the first period. Hartman opened the scoring at 6:17, finishing a feed from Kirill Kaprizov from behind the net, while Johansson converted a rebound off a pair of Knight saves at 7:58, marking his first goal in 16 games.

Crevier cut the deficit in half at 10:47 with a 102.54 mph slap shot from inside the blue line, the hardest shot to result in a goal this season, according to NHL on TNT. Minnesota regained a two-goal lead on a Tarasenko power-play goal with 1:30 remaining in the first period.

Chicago got within one at 14:35 of the second period when Greene scored on a rebound from the slot.

Former Chicago captain Nick Foligno received a warm ovation during a stoppage in the first period, marking his first game at the United Center since being traded to Minnesota on March 6.

-Field Level Media/Reuters