Wild beat Blackhawks for first preseason victory

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Christoph Brandner's power-play goal in the second period lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 preseason victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

Brandner tipped in a long shot by Filip Kuba in the opening minute of the period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead.

"When you get big guys going at the net and you throw the puck there, sometimes good things happen," said Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire. "Sometimes you need to put the puck on net and get an ugly goal."

Rookie Matt Keith scored the only goal for the Blackhawks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights.

"It was a game where we had to earn every inch because they weren't giving us anything," said Chicago coach Brian Sutter. "Their goalie was sharp and the difference in the game was a puck thrown on net from the goal line."

Jim Dowd gave the Wild a 1-0 lead on a bad-angle shot in the first period. From the corner, Dowd took a shot that deflected off goalie Jocelyn Thibault's stick and between his pads. Defenseman Nick Schultz added an unassisted, empty-net goal in the game's final minute.

Dwayne Roloson started in goal for Minnesota and made 15 saves. Thibault stopped 20 shots in the first two periods, including thwarting Pierre-Marc Bouchard during a second-period breakaway.

Thibault was replaced by Steve Passmore in the third period and he stopped all eight shots he faced.