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Blackhawks send Wild to 5th straight loss

Jan 12, 2015 - 5:24 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Marian Hossa, Bryan Bickell and Brad Richards all posted a goal with an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks downed the reeling Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Sunday.

Johnny Oduya also lit the lamp for Chicago, which has alternated wins and losses over the last seven games.

Corey Crawford's shutout bid was spoiled by Matt Cooke with 4:52 remaining in regulation, but the All-Star goaltender was otherwise stellar in a 36-save performance.

Niklas Backstrom surrendered all four goals on 35 shots for Minnesota, which has fallen into last place in the Central Division with five straight losses.

"There's some things that are concerning," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. "The clock is ticking here."

Chicago was playing its fifth game in eight days but had plenty of burst early, scoring twice in the first 7:53.

Hossa and Brandon Saad created a scoring chance despite being on a 2-on-3 break. Hossa stickhandled between the defenders and dumped it off to Saad, who bought time at the right circle and found a streaking Jonathan Toews trailing the play. Toews forced Backstrom out of the net with a nifty deke and fed Hossa in front at the 4:17 mark.

Less than four minutes later, Bickell was left uncovered on the doorstep and tapped in a Patrick Kane pass for a 2-0 Chicago lead.

"It always feels good to find the back of the net," Bickell said.

Richards scored at the 11:08 mark of the second after a Kane shot deflected off a defenseman's skate in front, and two minutes after Jason Zucker shot wide on his penalty shot, Oduya made it a 4-0 game.

A Hossa outlet pass started a 2-on-1 break, and even though Toews' pass was stopped by Jared Spurgeon, no one other Wild player hustled back on defense. Oduya swooped in, gathered the loose puck and wristed a shot that caromed off Spurgeon and bounced past Backstrom with 1:35 remaining in the period.

Game Notes

The Wild have gone 2-7-4 over their last 13 games ... Toews and Kane were each credited with two assists ... Chicago is 3-0 so far in the five-game season series.