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Bryzgalov, Wild shut down Blackhawks, trail 2-1 in series

May 7, 2014 - 5:01 AM St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first playoff shutout in eight years and the Minnesota Wild used a strong third period to take a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

In a 2-0 hole after dropping the first two games in Chicago, Minnesota was able to get in the win column thanks to third-period goals from Mikael Granlund -- who scored twice -- Zach Parise and Erik Haula.

"Happy to get the win and happy for a lot of our guys," said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. "Whether it's Bryz, whether it's our big guys, they all did well tonight and it's good to see. Now we need to build on this and even the series."

The Wild can even the best-of-seven series Friday night when they host Game 4.

Corey Crawford gave up three goals on 17 shots for the Blackhawks, who had won six straight games.

"I didn't mind our first 40 minutes, but when they got that goal to start the third it got the crowd electrified," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "We played the right way but they're as tight a defensive team as we're going to play here. Chances are going to be low and we have to work with that."

The game was scoreless going into the third, but the Wild struck quickly to take a 1-0 lead.

Matt Moulson took a pass in the neutral zone along the right side and tipped it up for Justin Fontaine, who skated to the top of the right circle and flipped the puck to the low left side, with Haula tapping it in for his second of the playoffs at 1:41.

Holding their first lead of the series, Minnesota made it a 2-0 game less than three minutes later when Jason Pominville sent the puck from the right circle to the left for Granlund, who shifted to the backhand in the slot and put it in.

Bryzgalov, who only had to make four saves in the third for his fourth playoff shutout, kept Chicago out of the net with just over six minutes to play as he turned aside a Jonathan Toews shot down low shortly after he stole the puck.

Johnny Oduya took an ill-advised hooking penalty with 3:34 to play, and the Wild made the Blackhawks pay as Parise deflected a Ryan Suter shot off the left post, and quickly stuffed home the puck for his fourth of the playoffs with 2:35 to play.

Granlund scored into the open net with 1:17 left to seal the victory.

"It was a tough game because we're playing a really good team," said Granlund. "After the first goal things seemed to open up a bit. It's a new series again. We'll enjoy this and come back ready for Friday."

Shots were limited for both teams through the first two periods, as Crawford had to turn aside 10, while Bryzgalov made 15 to keep the two teams off the scoreboard.

Game Notes

Minnesota was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Chicago went 0-for-2 ... Bryzgalov's last playoff shutout came May 7, 2006, in a 3-0 win by Anaheim over Colorado in the Western Conference semifinals -- his third straight shutout in that series... The only other postseason meeting between these clubs was in the 2013 quarterfinals, which the Blackhawks won in five games ... The Wild won three of the five games against the Blackhawks in the regular season.