For three straight years, the Minnesota Wild have been eliminated from the playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks.
This five-game season sweep of the Blackhawks doesn’t make up for that, but for the Wild, it sure felt good.
Jared Spurgeon, Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter scored in the third period to lift surging Minnesota to a 4-1 victory over visiting Chicago on Tuesday night, stretching the Wild’s season-high winning streak to six games.
“When you have that confidence going into the playoffs, if you do happen to play in them, it’s huge,” Spurgeon said.