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Wild Travel To Chicago For Final Game Before All-Star Break

(Sports Network) - With the All-Star break and a lengthy road trip on the horizon, the Chicago Blackhawks will look to bounce back from their first regulation loss in nearly three weeks as they take on the Minnesota Wild at the United Center.

The Blackhawks carried a 5-0-1 surge into Sunday's Stanley Cup Finals rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers, but got outworked in their own building to suffer a 4-1 loss and see a four-game home winning streak come to an end.

Marian Hossa had Chicago's only goal on a penalty shot in the third period, while Corey Crawford posted 30 saves in his team's first regulation loss since Jan. 5. The Blackhawks are tied for seventh in the Western Conference, a point back of Phoenix.

"They scored the all important first goal, they got the lead and had the momentum and we didn't do a very good job of getting it back," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we had a good start to the game, were doing a lot of good things, but that was an important goal."

Hossa's penalty shot was the first one of success at home for Chicago since Troy Murray on Dec. 30, 1987. The forward was credited with his 11th goal of the season and third of the month. Hossa has six goals and 11 points in 13 games versus the Wild.

Crawford, meanwhile, made his NHL debut versus the Wild back on Jan. 22, 2006, stopping seven shots in relief, but hasn't faced the franchise since.

The Wild are likely to get an extended look at Crawford tonight after they had a three-game win streak halted Saturday with a 4-3 setback in San Jose. Minnesota had outscored its opponents 14-1 on the win streak and fell to 7-4-0 this month.

Brent Burns had a goal and assisted on both of Mikko Koivu's power-play goals, while Niklas Backstrom ended with 38 saves. He faced 25 shots alone in the second period.

"Our execution wasn't great, and you have to give [San Jose] credit," Wild head coach Todd Richards said.

Nick Schultz is questionable for tonight's game after suffering a head injury versus the Sharks.

Minnesota is 2-1 on a four-game swing and lost for just the second time in its last seven road games.

The Blackhawks notched a 3-1 win at Minnesota on Oct. 30 to give them four victories in the last five meetings. Backstrom made 29 saves in that one, while Marty Turco posted 25 saves for Chicago.

Backstrom is 3-5-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average versus the 'Hawks and the Wild have won six of their last nine in the Windy City.

Photographs by Micah Taylor, clairity, and Fibonacci Blue used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.