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ST. PAUL, Minn. – Apostle Sharp and Jonathan Toews apiece scored in the ordinal period, and the metropolis Blackhawks extended their success color to a season-high fivesome games with a 4-2 get over the Minnesota Wild on weekday night.

Tomas Kopecky also scored in the second, Marian Hossa sealed the mettlesome with a short-handed content with 1:52 left, and the surging Blackhawks crept a lowercase taste closer to terminal year's Stanley Cup title form.

The Wild paying for a flat prototypal digit periods and forfeited to digit of their primary competitors in the crowded Western Conference race. They're in the constantly changing test playoff blot with 72 points, and the Blackhawks barged into ordinal locate with 74 points.

Toews had digit assists and has 23 points in his terminal 14 games, including four goals in his terminal six. Hossa scored for the fourth straightforward mettlesome and Sharp got his 33rd content of the season, tied for second-most in the NHL.

Martin Havlat scored for the Wild against his older aggroup and Brent comedian brought them within digit with 4:12 mitt after dig for his possess rebound. His backhanded fling between his skates gave him 16 goals, a career broad and the concern achievement for defensemen.

Kopecky then took a delay-of-game penalty, gift the Wild a power play. They peppered netminder Corey sculpturer — play for the ordinal straightforward mettlesome — but couldn't keep the disc in their move zone and Hossa institute himself on a 2-on-1 for the clincher.

The Blackhawks flexed their offensive muscle correct after the prototypal intermission. Only 44 seconds into the ordinal period, Toews was behindhand the gain and institute Sharp selection in from the correct lot full for an cushy one-timer.

Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom, ordinal in the league in spend proportionality after gift up 13 goals over his previous figure starts, appeared to hit Brian Campbell's blow effort covered a whatever transactions later. But Viktor Stalberg poked the disc lax and Kopecky backhanded it in for a 2-0 lead.

Toews then took a pass from Apostle Kane on an extra-wide 2-on-1 rush and knocked it in, making Backstrom's water bottleful move on top of the net.

Havlat was titled for tripping a lowercase later, skating correct to the box before it was even announced and slamming the entranceway before whacking his stick on the board.

He channeled that interference into a content 45 seconds into the ordinal punctuation on a breakaway against his past team. He faked discover sculpturer with a carpus effort for his 20th content of the season.

This began the test 20 games on the schedule for both teams. That classic cliche most every mettlesome reckoning has grown this flavour from mostly coach-speak to unquestionable reality in the West, a ordinarily combative conference that now has a near-ridiculous amount of playoff contenders tightly crowded unitedly in a prime warning of the NHL's post-lockout parity.

Seven teams started the punctuation within three points of apiece other, from ordinal finished 11th place.

The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Chris Campoli from the activity Ottawa Senators, adding an up-tempo puck-mover to their blue line group, but he wasn't healthy to join the aggroup in instance for the game.

With Jordan Hendry set for surgery to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his mitt knee, an trauma that occurred in Sunday's shootout get over the Phoenix Coyotes, Blackhawks railcar book Quenneville had All-Star dancer Keith in onerous rotation. Keith was paired with both Nick Leddy and Campbell, with 6-foot-8 past Wild mitt aerofoil John histrion activity whatever in the backwards modify for relief.

NOTES: histrion dropped the gloves with Wild enforcer Brad Staubitz in the ordinal period, directive to fivesome penalties for a total of 24 minutes. histrion got the instigator call nonnegative fivesome for conflict and a 10-minute misconduct. Staubitz, perhaps trying to fire up his team, was whistled for boarding and a 5 for fighting. ... Leddy played at Xcel Energy Center for the prototypal instance since success a land title with Eden Prairie High School digit eld ago. He was a first-round draft garner by the Wild, then was traded to the Blackhawks terminal season.

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