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Parrish's hat trick leads Wild to OT victory over Blackhawks

Dec 10, 2006 - 4:21 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Mark Parrish did all he could to ensure a victory for the Minnesota Wild.

Parrish's goal with 1:42 remaining in overtime completed his fifth career hat trick and gave the Wild a 5-4 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks.

After Minnesota squandered a two-goal lead in the third period, Parrish carried down the left wing in the extra session and backhanded a shot past goaltender Brian Boucher from near the left goalpost for his eighth tally of the season.

"I was just hoping. I had speed coming down the wing," Parrish said. "I was thinking that maybe he would drop and I could get it over his shoulder. He was hugging the post, and somehow it snuck in. That was a gift, we'll take it."

"If you look in detail, you'll see that he does a great job along the boards," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said of Parrish. "He's strong with the puck. He started doing a lot of things that he wasn't doing when he first came here."

Parrish, who also had tallied in the first period, staked Minnesota to a 4-2 lead at 3:51 of the third. But the Blackhawks erased the deficit on goals by Jeff Hamilton and defenseman Brent Seabrook 25 seconds apart in the latter half of the session.

Pavol Demitra scored a shorthanded goal and added two assists in his return to Minnesota's lineup after missing eight games with a concussion.

"He has a hand in just about every goal," Parrish said. "When you get a superstar back in the lineup, that's going to make everybody around him better. Tonight was proof of that."

Manny Fernandez finished with 22 saves and Mikko Koivu also tallied for the Wild, who went 3-for-9 on the power play.

"We have to be careful with our penalties," said Blackhawks coach Denis Savard, whose team has earned at least one point in each of his six games behind the bench (3-0-3). "We have to keep our stick on the ice and keep our hands off the other team."

Martin Havlat had a strong showing in his return for Chicago after having missed 19 games with a right ankle injury. He registered two goals and an assist, giving him 16 points in just eight contests this season.

"I felt great," Havlat said. "It was better than I thought. It's good to be back. We battled hard. I thought it was a good point for us."

Boucher stopped 33 shots for the Blackhawks, who were 1-for-6 with the extra skater.