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Huet, Blackhawks hope for another strong outing vs. Wild

Feb 22, 2009 - 1:56 PM Minnesota (29-24-4) at Chicago (34-15-8), 7:00 p.m. EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- With his recent success, goaltender Cristobal Huet has made Nikolai Khabibulin's injury a mere footnote.

Huet and the Chicago Blackhawks look to notch their fifth straight victory when they host the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

On Saturday, Huet made 30 saves and came within less than eight minutes of his second straight shutout as the Blackhawks defeated the Dallas Stars, 3-1.

The 33-year-old stopped 31 shots for his third shutout of the season in Thursday's 4-0 triumph over the Florida Panthers.

"It's been a good stretch," Huet said. "I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve."

Chicago, which is 3-0-0 without injured leading-scorer Patrick Sharp, has outscored opponents, 18-6, in its last four contests.

The Blackhawks will play seven of their next nine games at home after playing 11 of 12 on the road. They went 9-3-0 during that stretch, including wins in their last three road contests.

The Wild, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak by posting a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

Owen Nolan recorded two goals and an assist and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored a goal and set up another while defenseman Martin Skoula also tallied for Minnesota, which avenged a 4-2 loss at Detroit on February 12.

Captain Andrew Brunette was sidelined with a lower body injury, ending the league's longest active consecutive games streak at 509.