Wild continue to dominate Blackhawks

CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago Blackhawks coach Alpo Suhonen is just about ready for his players to get mad.

The Blackhawks' 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Thursday night was their third straight defeat against the Wild and clinched the season series 3-1 for the first-year team.

"It doesn't help anything if I get mad. I'm not playing," Suhonen said. "If the players can't prepare themselves, then that's a critical thing."

Not only did the Blackhawks' two-game winning streak end, they fell to 3-8-0-1 at the United Center, the fewest home points in the NHL.

"We were trapping ourselves," Suhonen said after being asked about Minnesota's defensive system. "They (the Blackhawks) didn't play with any emotion."

Some of the Blackhawks were upset at themselves for not following a game plan that stressed getting an early lead against defensive-minded Minnesota and goalie Manny Fernandez. The Wild built a 3-0 advantage midway through the second period.

"We give them the first goal and then they sit back and play D," Blackhawks captain Tony Amonte said. "They must be doing something right. They beat us three times in as row."

Blackhawks goalie Jocelyn Thibault was upset about squandering points against a Minnesota team Chicago figured to handle.

"Against an expansion team, you need to get points," Thibault said. "There are six points we lost against them that are key. I wish we could replay them."

Minnesota was happy to end a three-game losing streak regardless of the opponent. Antti Laaksonen, Aaron Gavey, Filip Kuba and Wes Walz scored for the Wild.

Fernandez stopped 27 shots and has only allowed 10 goals in his last six games. He yielded seven goals in the four games against Chicago.

"We came here to play, I guess," Fernandez said. "I think everybody was tired of losing and just end the (four-game) road trip well. We try to win every night. Whether we won the last time against Chicago isn't going to change the fact we still want to come here and get two points."

Chicago's leading scorer, Steve Sullivan, broke through for two goals, but the Wild held on.

Minnesota 1 2 1 -- 4

Chicago 0 1 1 -- 2

First Period--1, Minnesota, Laaksonen 7, 14:31. Penalties--McKenna, Min, major (fighting), 2:07; Probert, Chi, major (fighting), 2:07; Dubinsky, Chi (boarding), 6:47; Laaksonen, Chi (slashing), 9:22; Zhamnov, Chi (slashing), 9:22; Sutton, Min (roughing), 11:31; VandenBussche, Chi (roughing), 11:31; Sutton, Min (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:37; VandenBussche, Chi (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:37; Herperger, Chi (slashing), 16:13.

Second Period--2, Minnesota, Gavey 2 (Krivokrasov), 3:19. 3, Minnesota, Kuba 3 (Gaborik, Pellerin), 8:51. 4, Chicago, Sullivan 12 (Spacek), 15:12 (sh). Penalties--Chicago bench, served by Dubinsky (too many men), 5:19; Gaborik, Min (interference), 6:24; McKenna, Min, major (fighting), 8:55; VandenBussche, Chi, major (fighting), 8:55; Allison, Chi (holding), 13:47; Sekeras, Min (cross-checking), 18:24.

Third Period--5, Chicago, Sullivan 13 (Quintal), 18:11. 6, Minnesota, Walz 7, 19:17 (en). Penalties--Minnesota bench, served by Gavey (too many men), 9:50; Sutton, Min, double minor (cross-checking, roughing), 20:00; Mironov, Chi (roughing), 20:00; McAmmond, Chi (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on goal--Minnesota 11-9-3--23. Chicago 6-14-9--29.

Power-play Opportunities--Minnesota 0 of 4; Chicago 0 of 3.

Goalies--Minnesota, Fernandez 7-7-1 (29 shots-27 saves). Chicago, Thibault 8-11-2 (22-19).

A--12,644 (20,500).

Referees--Greg Kimmerly, Tom Kowal. Linesmen--Kevin Collins, Mark Wheler.