After stumbling out of the extended break against the Dallas Stars, the Minnesota Wild patched together an admirable showing against the Chicago Blackhawks over the weekend, earning a point in an overtime loss. Victor Rask scored just his second goal of the season and first in a Wild sweater to send the game to overtime with about 3 minutes remaining in regulation. Not bad timing against a Hawks team that has of recent history been an iron spike in the Wild’s skate.
Had it not been for Ryan Suter’s moonshot over the boards with 19 seconds left in regulation, giving the Hawks a power play leading up to overtime, the Wild might have earned that valuable second point, inching them closer to the Stars for third in the division, and perhaps more importantly adding some additional cushion between the Wild in the first wildcard spot, and the groundswell of teams fighting for the 8th seed.