ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Wild defenseman Matt Dumba went 33 games without scoring a goal, but he sure busted out of that slump at an opportune time.
Dumba scored 2 minutes, 21 seconds into overtime to give the Wild a 3-2 win over the Central Division rival Blackhawks Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, halting a late-game rally by Chicago.
Dumba stuffed in a loose puck in tight, just his fourth goal this season after Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta tied the game at 2 with 3:10 to go in regulation. Before that, fellow defender Adam Boqvist wrecked goalie Alex Stalock's shutout bid at 6:23 with a shot through traffic.
For the Wild, winger Kevin Fiala scored twice to continue his success against Chicago this season.
The photo finish was a far cry from a strong start by the Wild that was rife with positives.
After a woeful showing in that 6-1 take down by the Bruins that included three power-play goals against the Wild, the penalty kill finally had a clean outing. It survived all three chances for the Blackhawks, just the second spotless game it's had over the past 12.
What's more, the tweaks coach Bruce Boudreau made to the forwards lines looked shrewd.
Aside from Fiala's contributions on a new-look second unit, the revised third line applied pressure all night and the fourth _ amid the addition of winger Ryan Donato _ made its presence felt, drawing the penalty that culminated in Fiala's second goal.
This improvement was noticeable from the get-go, with the Wild seizing control of the pace of play right after the puck hit the ice.
Not until 12 minutes, 38 seconds had elapsed in the first did Chicago register its first shot on goal. The Wild already had nine by that point, but Stalock was still involved before then _ getting kneed in the head by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews during a rush to the net.
Although Stalock was down on his stomach motionless after the hit, he remained in the game after getting evaluated on the ice.
Overall, the Wild finished the first outshooting Chicago 12-4 but it didn't capitalize until the second.
At 3:53, Fiala converted on a rising shot from the slot for his first goal in nine games.
Later in the period, while the Wild were on the power play, Stalock made a clutch stop against center Ryan Carpenter on a breakaway.
Soon after, the Wild doubled their lead on another slick shot by Fiala _ this time a five-hole tally off the rush. The goal was Fiala's 11th this season and four of those have come against Chicago. He also had a two-goal performance in these teams' previous meeting Dec.15. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford had 31 saves.
The Wild wound up going 1 for 2 with the man advantage.
At the other end, Stalock remained sharp _ even after his first-period collision with Toews.
He handled a much busier second, where he made 10 stops, and was back at attention in third _ starting the frame by snagging a shot from defenseman Duncan Keith with his glove.
But the Wild eased up their workload in front of Crawford, although he did have to stop Donato on a breakaway, and the shift paved the way for the Blackhawks to crawl back into the game.
Stalock totaled 27 stops.
