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Olvecky, Harding help Wild upend Blackhawks

Feb 23, 2009 - 3:56 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Peter Olvecky made his first career NHL goal a memorable one.

The rookie scored early in the third period to snap a tie and Josh Harding turned aside a career-high 44 shots as the Minnesota Wild recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Dan Fritsche netted a power-play goal for Minnesota, which has amassed back-to-back victories.

"You can't count on your big line every night," Fritsche said. "It was a game where everyone had to chip in. Josh, myself and Peter, it was good see. This was a big two points for us."

Captain Jonathan Toews scored and Cristobal Huet finished with 22 saves for Chicago, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

"They played hard and so did we," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was a night where the puck did not go in for us. Their goalie was the difference tonight."

Defenseman Duncan Keith also noted the team's 0-for-7 effort on the power play.

"It's frustrating, we need to be better than that," Keith said. "We had some good chances and didn't score. We need to work on it."

Playing in his 11th career game, Olvecky accepted a centering feed from defenseman Martin Skoula and beat Huet between the pads 3:30 into the third period.

"I was waiting for this moment for about all of my life," the 23-year-old Olvecky said. "I got a pass from Skoula and closed my eyes and shot. Then everybody started screaming."

Harding did the rest, turning aside 15 shots in the final session.

"Sometimes I just closed my eyes and hoped they would hit me," Harding said. "That's how it is here in Chicago, they shoot the puck. This was a good weekend for us, we beat two good clubs."

"I have played against Harding before and he is a good goalie," All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell said. "He made some big saves for them tonight."

Toews opened the scoring midway into the second period after capping off a 3-on-2 advantage.

All-Star Patrick Kane fed Martin Havlat, who wristed a shot from the left faceoff circle which was denied by Harding. Toews collected the rebound and tapped it past the netminder for his 22nd goal of the season and fifth in as many games.

Fritsche leveled the contest just 2:45 later, deflecting Pierre-Marc Bouchard's shot which beat Huet under the crossbar for his third goal of the season. After a lengthy review, the goal was allowed to stand.

"I thought it had a chance of standing up even though it was reviewed, because they called it a goal at first," Fritsche said. "I was glad they ruled it the way they did."