Ryan Hartman scored twice and Marcus Foligno and Calen Addison each tallied a goal and assist to boost the visiting Minnesota Wild to a 5-1 rout of the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello registered two assists apiece for the Wild, who won for the fourth time in five games on the heels of a five-game losing streak.
The Blackhawks have lost two in a row after winning four straight. Dylan Strome spoiled a shutout bid from Wild goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen with 5:03 to play.
Minnesota, which is set to host Chicago on Saturday in the conclusion of a back-to-back, rolled behind a fast start, scoring twice in the first 4:07 of the game to provide ample support for Kahkonen, who made 35 saves. The Wild struck first at 2:58 of the first period, as Addison eluded a check to find Foligno, newly sprung from the penalty box following an early tripping penalty, who stuffed one past Chicago goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
Hartman made it 2-0 shortly thereafter, burying an open chance after Kaprizov weaved from the side boards to the front of the net and delivered a backhand pass. Hartman secured a multi-goal night when he drilled a slap shot from the right circle at 17:12 of the first.
A native of West Dundee, Ill., in northwest suburban Chicago and a former first-round pick of the Blackhawks, Hartman continued a dazzling season in front of a home crowd, all after feeling peaked earlier Friday. He now has a career-best 32 points in 36 games this season, and stands one goal shy of his career high of 19.
Minnesota chased Fleury from the game when Addison notched his second career goal at 12:05 of the second. Fleury stopped nine of 13 shots before yielding to Kevin Lankinen, who made 13 saves on 14 shots in his first action since Dec. 18.
Brandon Duhaime beat Lankinen at 16:26 to extend the Wild lead to 5-0.
Strome and Seth Jones returned to the lineup for Chicago after exiting COVID-19 protocols this week. The Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek made his first appearance in a month, having entered the protocols after recovering from an upper-body injury.
MacKenzie Entwistle of the Blackhawks and Connor Dewar of the Wild received game misconducts at 12:42 of the first period as the teams engaged in simultaneous fights. Duhaime fought Chicago’s Riley Stillman, but neither was ejected. Stillman later left the game with a left shoulder injury.
–Field Level Media
