CHICAGO -- Charlie Coyle scored the tiebreaking goal to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Wild during regulation. Minnesota (34-28-11) beat the Blackhawks for the sixth consecutive regular-season game, including a 4-0-0 mark this season. The Wild improved to 11-6-1 under interim coach John Torchetti.
Chicago (42-24-7) dropped to 2-4-2 in its past eight games. Andrew Shaw and Richard Panik scored during regulation for the Blackhawks.
Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 of 31 shots during regulation and overtime. Dubnyk turned aside Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin during the shootout round.
Chicago goaltender Scott Darling made 32 saves on 34 shots. Darling denied Zach Parise during the shootout but failed to stop Coyle's backhand shot.
Tensions ran high after Wild defenseman Matt Dumba leveled Kane early in the third period. Kane had his head down and the puck between his skates when Dumba drilled him head-on near the blue line. Panarin drew a roughing minor for retaliating against Dumba. Kane headed to the locker room for mandatory concussion protocol, but returned to the game several minutes later.
After a scoreless first period, Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the second period. Justin Fontaine carried the puck behind the Blackhawks' net and flipped a pass toward the slot. Haula used his right skate to kick the puck to the blade of his stick, and he released a rising wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season and his second goal in the past five games.
Niederreiter scored on a rebound to increase Minnesota's lead to 2-0 with 12:56 remaining in the second period. Darling stopped a point-blank shot by Jordan Schroeder but could not recover in time as Niederreiter punched in the loose puck for his 18th goal.
Chicago cut the deficit to 2-1 less than two minutes later when Shaw fired a wrist shot that trickled between Dubnyk's pads. Shaw snapped an 11-game scoring drought with the goal.
A wraparound goal by Panik evened the score at 2 with 6:39 to go in the second period. Panik skated behind the Wild net and slipped a shot off Dubnyk's left skate for his fourth goal.
NOTES: Blackhawks G Corey Crawford missed his third consecutive game because of an upper-body injury. Crawford's status is "day-to-day," coach Joel Quenneville said. ... Wild LW Thomas Vanek was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Vanek has 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points, which is fourth most on the team this season. ... Blackhawks LW Brandon Mashinter was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. ... Wild LW Chris Porter returned to the lineup for the first time in five games. Porter replaced LW Ryan Carter, who did not play because of an upper-body injury. ... Blackhawks D Christian Ehrhoff missed his second straight game as a healthy scratch. ... Wild RW Jason Pominville (upper body) skated before Sunday's game but missed his sixth straight contest.
