Wild get the gift they needed most, hold off Chicago to snap losing streak

On the eve of their holiday break, the Minnesota Wild got the gift they probably needed more than any other right now. Brock Faber scored early in the third period to snap a season-worst four-game losing streak, as Minnesota beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 at Xcel Energy Center heading into their time off for Christmas.

Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild, who rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the game, getting 28 saves from goalie Filip Gustavsson, and getting back a little of the good feeling that powered their franchise-best start to the season before their recent spate of injuries and – eventually – losses.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin, deep in the corner to the right of the Chicago net, fed Faber, who had a first period goal taken away after a Chicago challenge. The former Gophers star ripped a shot past a screened Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom, as Minnesota improved to 2-0-1 versus their Central Division rivals this season.

Perhaps most notable for the Wild, who have been desperate to find scoring beyond their first line, was the play of the fourth line trio of Devin Shore, Ben Jones and Yakov Trenin, which set up a second period goal and had another potential goal waved due to goalie interference.

Marcus Foligno hit a long-range empty net shot with 84 seconds left to seal the win. It was the Wild’s first since a 4-1 home victory over Philadelphia on Dec. 14. Chicago got an extra attacker goal in the final minute to pull back within one, but Minnesota shut the door.

The Wild gave the large and potentially festive pre-holiday audience what looked like a nice gift three minutes into the first when defenseman Faber went to the net and popped in the rebound of a fourth line shot for what appeared to be an early lead. But Chicago challenged the play for goalie interference, and replays confirmed that Jones had made contact with the Blackhawks goalie prior to Faber’s shot, thus negating the goal.

Then it became a battle of the teams’ superstars, as Chicago’s Connor Bedard found a small gap between the Wild goalie’s knees to give the visitors an early lead, and Kaprizov had an answer for Minnesota.

With Minnesota buzzing in the offensive zone, Mats Zuccarello fired to the net, and Marco Rossi tipped the shot, which hit Soderblom, then hit the right post, landing unattended to the left of the net. With the goalie looking the other way. Kaprizov tapped in the puck for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. Zuccarello’s assist on the play was the 450th of his career.

Gustavsson, who had last played on Dec. 12, getting yanked early from a blowout loss to the Oilers, then missing four games while recovering from a lower body injury, announced his return emphatically late in the first when he thwarted Frank Nazar’s solo rush to the net after a Wild turnover at the blue line. In the third period, after a turnover behind the net, Gustavsson stopped Teuvo Teravainen’s golden opportunity to tie the game, and got a much-needed whistle.

A Wild miscue in the second period sprung Chicago on a 3-on-1 rush which Gustavsson nearly foiled, only to have Nick Foligno pop in a rebound to give the Blackhawks the lead back early in the second. But the Wild’s fourth line finally clicked just 49 seconds later, setting up Spurgeon’s seeing-eye backhander that made it 2-2. Shore assisted on the goal, for his first point since signing with the Wild as a free agent over the summer. Trenin, who was playing his first game back after missing the previous five with an upper body injury, had the other assist.

Soderblom finished with 23 saves for Chicago.

Due to the NHL-mandated break for Christmas, the Wild are off until Friday when they visit Dallas for the first time this season.