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Bouchard scores in shootout to lift Wild over Blackhawks

Dec 6, 2006 - 4:04 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Pierre-Marc Bouchard tried a spinning shot that looked very familiar to the one Chicago Blackhawks coach Denis Savard once used.

Bouchard scored the clincher in the sixth round of the shootout and Brian Rolston added a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

In defeating the Blackhawks for the seventh time in eight encounters, Minnesota ended Savard's bid to become the first Chicago coach to win his first four games. During his 17-year playing career, Savard made the spinning shot his trademark.

"It was ironic," Savard said. "The first time I'm in a shootout as a head coach and he made that move. It was a great move. Good for the kid.

"After he did that, I was looking at Savard (and) he looked at me," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I said, 'that's your move.' He wasn't laughing that much. He didn't think it was funny."

The shootout was tied, 2-2, through five rounds before Bouchard skated to the left side of the goal, stopped and did a complete spin in front of goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin before shooting the puck inside the right goalpost.

"I thought it was good timing to do it, at home in front of our fans," Bouchard said. "To tell you the truth, when he played for Montreal back in the day, I was watching him play. He was doing that a lot."

"It surprised me a little bit," Khabibulin said. "Well, actually, a lot. It was a nice gamewinner."

Rolston tied the score with 7:16 remaining in the second period when he skated ahead of two defenders on a breakaway and flipped a backhander between Khabibulin's pads.

"We were down 2-1, and we were getting chances," Wild center Todd White said. "(Rolston) had a breakaway and I had a couple of chances. Rolston made a nice play on the second breakaway to (score). As long as you're getting the chances, that's what you are worried about."

Playing just his fifth game of the season, Brandon Bochenski scored his first goal at 3:21 of the opening period with a wrister that beat netminder Manny Fernandez inside the left post to give Chicago 1-0 lead.

Minnesota tied the score with 8:14 to go in the first session when Todd White's wrister from the left faceoff circle found the gap between Khabibulin's legs for his sixth goal of the season.

Moments after Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith was whistled for hooking, teammate Bryan Smolinski scored shorthanded on a 2-on-1 for his fifth goal with 2:36 left in the first period.

"We had a lot of shots, but couldn't put it away," Smolinski said. "It was a very strong game throughout. ... We are building on our philosophy here. I thought it was a very good game for our team."

Fernandez made 27 saves and won for just the second time in 12 games for Minnesota, which is unbeaten in its last seven home meetings against Chicago.

"It was good to get the win," Fernandez said. "It's exciting. It shows a little bit how hard we have to work to get a win."

"We had been playing some bad hockey," Bouchard said. "Every game is a battle. It's good for our confidence. We have to build on that win."

Khabibulin stopped 35 shots but lost to the Wild for the fifth time in as many contests.