Blackhawks finally beat Wild by finally holding 2-0 lead

It took some help from the goalpost and a potentially goal-saving dive by Alex Vlasic in the final seconds, but the Blackhawks finally beat the Wild.

The Hawks' 2-1 victory Thursday marked their first in regulation against their northern rivals since 2019 and just their second of any sort in 20 meetings during that time span.

The gap between the two teams had definitely tightened this season — the Hawks took the first three meetings to overtime before ultimately losing all three — but this marked an important step forward.

"We felt we needed to get one against them before the year ended, so it's good we did that," Connor Bedard told ESPN's John Buccigross afterward.

It was Bedard's 28th goal of the season — which gave the Hawks a 2-0 edge halfway through the second period — that held up as the game-winner, and it was one of the prettiest of his 28.

He stripped the puck from Wild veteran Marcus Johansson at the defensive blue line, showed off his increased speed and strength to accelerate quickly for a breakaway and hold off Johansson behind him and then flicked a backhand shot past Jesper Wallstedt.

The Hawks are now a respectable 4-2-3 in March with Bedard leading the way; he has 10 points in those nine games. And with 65 points in 55 games on the season, he's just two away from equaling his point total from last season in 27 fewer games.

Entering Thursday, the Hawks had held a 2-0 lead during the first or second period of 12 games this season — and had incredibly ended up losing seven of those 12 games. It had been remarkable how consistently they've squandered that advantage.

So it was also important to finally get over that hump in addition to the Minnesota hump.

The phrasing of "squandering an advantage" suggests their defense (or goaltending) has been to blame, but the bigger problem has been their inability to offensively add to leads — or to reawaken and rebuild the lead after their opponent rallies back.

In the seven losses — including two prior meetings against the Wild (Nov. 26 at home and Jan. 27 in St. Paul) — the Hawks have scored a grand total of three additional goals after building the 2-0 lead. They've really struggled to regain momentum after having it and then losing it.

Technically, the Hawks didn't add to their lead Thursday, either. But they at least kept pushing offensively rather than retreating into a shell.

Although the Wild came extremely close to equalizing during a five-on-three power play halfway through the third period and during the six-on-five situation with the goalie pulled in the final minute, the Hawks also came close to adding an insurance goal — particularly on third-period breakaways by Ryan Greene and Tyler Bertuzzi.

The Hawks gave up very little during five-on-five play, where were credited with 21 scoring chances compared to the Wild's seven. And goalie Spencer Knight also helped shut the door, saving 28 of 29 shots in his best start since Jan. 19.

Meanwhile, coach Jeff Blashill returned to an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup, which he frequently used in road games earlier this season — appreciating how it allowed him to reduce the workload on his young defensemen and double-shift Bedard with different linemates — but hadn't in a while.

That lineup construction seemed effective yet again. Nick Lardis still received criminally low ice time (just 8:37), but Ethan Del Mastro's presence as the seventh defenseman added some size and sandpaper in a game that featured plenty of after-the-whistle skirmishes.

The young Hawks' eagerness to jump into those and stand their ground against a much tougher, older Wild group was good to see.