ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 31 (UPI) — Matt Cullen scored the decisive goal in the shootout Wednesday to bring Minnesota a 3-2 victory over Chicago, the Blackhawks’ first loss of the season.
The result left San Jose as the only unbeaten team in the NHL.
Cullen’s goal came in the third round of the shootout after Minnesota’s Zach Parise and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews had both produced a goal in the first round.
Cullen also opened the scoring in regulation, putting the Wild in front 1:30 into the contest. The Blackhawks came back to lead after one period on goals by Andrew Shaw and Toews, but Cal Clutterbuck tied it just 59 seconds into the middle period and neither team could score for the rest of regulation.
Minnesota starting goaltender Josh Harding gave up two goals on four shots and was removed in favor of Niklas Backstrom. The only goal Chicago managed against Backstrom came in the shootout.
Corey Crawford made 23 saves in the loss.
This was the opener of Chicago’s six-game road trip. The Blackhawks will not play at home again until Feb. 12.
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