ST. PAUL, Minn. — coming oh-so-close over and over again, the Chicago Blackhawks finally defeated the Kirill Kaprizov-less Minnesota Wild.

For the first time in 20 games, the Wild lost in regulation to their Central Division rival, falling 2-1 on Thursday at Grand Casino Arena without Kaprizov in action.

Kaprizov was sidelined by a lower-body injury suffered in the 4-3 overtime victory at Chicago on March 17.

The star winger is sore and considered day-to-day.

That last game was the third in a row this season the Wild won against the Blackhawks in either overtime or a shootout, but their franchise-record 19-game point streak (18-0-1) ended after blanking on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play in the third period that saw Matt Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko hit the post.

Ilya Mikheyev started the scoring in the first period, and Connor Bedard put Chicago up 2-0 on a breakaway in the second before Nico Sturm responded for the Wild.

Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight racked up 28 saves, while Jesper Wallstedt made 24 stops for the Wild.

This was the first game Kaprizov missed all season, joining Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno as the Wild’s other hurt forwards.

But the team did get Bobby Brink back after he missed four games from a hit into the boards March 10 vs. Utah after his trade from Philadelphia for David Jiricek.

How it happened

After having their best start in recent memory in their last game, the Wild took a step back in their first period without Kaprizov.

They trailed on a crease-crashing redirect by Mikheyev with 3:38 to go in the first. The Wild didn’t give up much to Chicago in the second, but the Blackhawks doubled their lead when Bedard stripped Marcus Johansson of the puck and backhanded in a breakaway at 11:47.

Then the Wild began to rally.

Sturm, who hobbled off after blocking a shot with his right leg earlier in the period, scored five-hole on Chicago goalie Spencer Knight at 15:47. Hunter Haight’s assist was his first NHL point.

Turning point

In the third period, the Blackhawks took back-to-back penalties to give the Wild a 5-on-3 power play for 1:35.

But Boldy and Tarasenko rang shots off the post, Knight denied two attempts by Boldy that hit the net, and Quinn Hughes had a look go wide.

The Wild power play finished 0 for 3, same as Chicago.

Key stat

This was the Blackhawks’ first regulation victory over the Wild since Dec. 15, 2019, a 5-3 victory at United Center.

Up next

The Wild reunite with the Stars on Saturday afternoon after losing and winning by 5-2 in their other two matchups this season.

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