Patrick Kane called it the Blackhawks "biggest" game of the season.
And the Hawks responded with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Wild. Jonathan Toews scored the winning goal 3:09 into overtime after Erik Haula tied the game 16 minutes, 57 seconds into the third period.
The second period featured an unusual review that took approximately six minutes to resolve. After Zach Parise scored off his own rebound, the Hawks challenged, claiming Parise was offside. But the NHL took its time to review the play, only to determine there was inconclusive evidence to overturn the call and the goal stood.
The replay review took so long that at one point linesman Ryan Daisy used an iPhone presumably to communicate with league officials. The NHL said in a statement that replays were inconclusive that Parise was offside the moment the puck touched Coyle’s stick.
But the Hawks still had a 3-2 lead after the period thanks to goals from Richard Panik and Nick Schmaltz. The Wild also got a goal from Jared Spurgeon.
The Hawks scored in the first period thanks to Ryan Hartman, who netted his 13th goal of the season off a feed from Vinnie Hinostroza, who is back in the lineup after he was a healthy scratch the last two games.
Hinostroza skated with the puck down the right wing and found Hartman with a pass as Hartman skated down the slot. Hartman connected on the one-timer.
The Hawks entered the game trailing the Wild by six points for first in the Central Division while the Wild had two games in hand.
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