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NHL playoffs: Minnesota Wild finally take down Blackhawks, 4-0

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ST. PAUL — Erik Haula and Mikael Granlund scored less than three minutes apart early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild recovered from a sluggish start for a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first shutout in the playoffs in eight years, and the Blackhawks had their lead whittled to 2-1 with their first loss in 2½ weeks.

Zach Parise put the exclamation point on the win with a power-play goal, the first in 25 chances for the Wild over their last two playoff series against the Blackhawks. Then Granlund tacked on an empty-netter with 1:17 left.

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Corey Crawford stopped only 14 shots for the Blackhawks, who dropped their first two games to St. Louis before winning four in a row.

The announced attendance of 19,416 was the most in franchise history, but the atmosphere didn’t match that until shortly after the second intermission, when Haula finally brought the fans to their feet.

The rookie center from Finland, who was a standout for the University of Minnesota, started the play from the neutral zone and finished in front of the rush for a tap-in of Justin Fontaine’s slick pass through the defense.