Wild rally for point, but Chicago snaps 12-game losing streak against Central rival

For two periods Sunday in Chicago, the Wild were in slow motion, a step behind the Blackhawks when skating, their pucks late or off the mark to teammates.

They were a different team for the third period, when they outshot the Blackhawks 19-4 and tied the game on Matt Boldy’s snap shot from the slot with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left in regulation.

But the Wild couldn’t finish their comeback, falling 2-1 on Philipp Kurashev’s goal 1:50 into the three-on-three overtime at United Center.

Still, the Wild (10-2-3) left for home with 5 of 6 possible points on a three-game road trip that included games Thursday and Friday in San Jose and Anaheim, Calif., and remained second in the Western Conference with 24 points, four behind first-place Winnipeg.

Kirill Kaprizov had the lone assist on Boldy’s tying goal, extending his points streak to three games, giving him seven on the road trip and moving him within one point of NHL leader’s Nathan McKinnon’s 29 points with Colorado.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 20 of 22 shots on goal for the Wild, and Petr Mrazek stopped 32 of 33 shots to help the Blackhawks snap a 12-game losing streak to the Wild.

Jason Dickinson scored on a wrist shot from the high slot late in the first period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Gustavsson was screened on the play, in part by teammate Mats Zuccarello, and never really saw the puck.

Minnesota had two chances to break up Chicago’s forecheck before the goal, once when Kaprizov’s centering pass missed two teammates and went back to the Blackhawks (6-9-1), the second when Jake Middleton and Joel Eriksson Ek couldn’t corral a hard dump pass that ringed around the boards.

That was pretty much how the first two periods went for the Wild, who were a step slow when skating and late, and off the mark, with their passes. Gustavsson kept the team in it, stopping 14 of 15 shots he faced in the first two periods.

Looking for a spark, Wild coach John Hynes began changing his lines late in the second period, and it seemed to get the team’s attention. In the third period, the Wild set up shop in the Blackhawks’ end and outshot Chicago 19-4.

“I thought there wasn’t a ton going on in the first two periods, and you make some tweaks, see different guys that are going and try combos,” Hynes told reporters in Chicago. “It changes, I think, the mojo a little bit on the team, and on the bench. Guys are up and moving, and we eventually found it.”

The Wild were a different team in the third, but Mrazek was also at his best, stopping 18 shots — many of them Grade A chances. Playing in a rare combination with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, Boldy finally found the back of the net after taking a pass from Kaprizov in the slot and darting it far side to make it 1-1 at 15:32.

“Just a little bit of a feel,” Hynes said. “Boldy was going, Kirill and Zucc had been away from each other for a little bit, then they’re back together. I thought Boldy had some jam in the third period, and sometimes you just get a feel with different guys, and they were good.”

Chicago, however, capitalized on a Wild offensive zone turnover to start a rush that Kurashev, speeding toward the slot, finished with a snap shot that Gustavsson couldn’t glove.

The Wild have three days off before their next game, Thursday against Montreal at Xcel Energy Center.