Wild Blank Sputtering Blackhawks, 3-0
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Devan Dubnyk made a season-high 44 saves, Charlie Coyle scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-0, on Saturday night.
Mikko Koivu also scored in the first period for Minnesota, which is 9-0-3 in its last 12 home games. It was Dubnyk's fourth shutout of the season and No. 28 for his career.
Jeff Glass made 16 saves for last-place Chicago, which has lost five games in a row and nine of its past 11.
Minnesota bounced back nicely from an ugly loss to Arizona on Thursday night, when it blew a three-goal lead and lost 4-3 to the Coyotes in overtime. Dubnyk played a key role as Chicago outshot Minnesota 44-19, including 15-7 in the third period.
Coyle had four goals in his first 33 games of the season. But he has found his scoring touch while playing on the third line with Zach Parise and Matt Cullen, picking up four goals in his past six games.
He started the scoring at 1:58 of the first when he banked in a shot off Glass from behind the net. Koivu made it 2-0 at 6:31 when he deflected a power-play shot from Matt Dumba from the right circle.
Coyle scored again on the rush in the second, giving him his first multigoal game of the season.
Chicago was shut out for the first time since Nov. 4 at Minnesota and the third time overall this season. The Wild improved to 11-4-1 in their last 16 regular-season meetings with the Blackhawks.
Stopping pucks has been more of an issue for the Blackhawks than scoring. Since star goaltender Corey Crawford went down with an upper-body injury in December, Chicago has allowed the sixth-most goals in the league and is 7-10-3 during that stretch.
NOTES: Minnesota had its biggest crowd of the season with an announced attendance of 19,227. ... Chicago D Carl Dahlstrom made his NHL debut. Dahlstrom, a second-round draft pick by the Blackhawks in 2013, had 23 points in 47 games for Rockford of the American Hockey League. ... Chicago F Patrick Sharp was scratched for the fifth time in seven games. Sharp has just six goals and seven assists in 47 games this season. ... Wild D Viktor Loov was scratched a day after being recalled from the AHL and two days after being acquired in a trade from the New Jersey Devils.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Play at Arizona on Monday.
Wild: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.
