Blackhawks 4, Wild 2

Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin scored on Chicago's first two shots, Corey Crawford made 42 saves and the Blackhawks defeated Minnesota on Sunday to pull within a point of the Central Division-leading Wild.

Chicago handed over a fast start to Corey Crawford, and the All-Star goaltender carried it home.

Crawford made a season-high 42 saves, and the Blackhawks beat the Minnesota on Sunday to pull within a point of the Central Division leaders.

Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin scored on Chicago's first two shots, helping the Blackhawks (43-20-5) rebound from two straight losses. Trevor van Riemsdyk scored in the second period, and Marian Hossa added his 22nd in the third.

"If you ask anyone in this room, we probably feel we can play a lot better," said Kane, who reached 30 goals for the second straight season and third time in his career. "Give the credit to (Crawford) tonight. He played an unbelievable game."

Eric Staal scored his 22nd goal and Mikael Granlund got his 23rd for Minnesota, which has dropped three of four. Minnesota outshot Chicago 44-22 for a season high allowed by the Blackhawks.

The Wild had a lot of good chances, too. Crawford made a pad save on Erik Haula's breakaway early in the third while Chicago was clinging to a 3-2 lead.

"We had a fortunate start, a couple of quick goals, and we slowed down as the game progressed," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Crow made some great saves, some big saves."

It was a different story for Devan Dubnyk, trying for his career-high 37th win. He was relieved by Darcy Kuemper after allowing the pair of early goals.

Coach Bruce Boudreau didn't like what he saw from his No. 1 goaltender.

"It was on him," Boudreau said. "He didn't look like he was following the puck well, for want of a better term."

Dubnyk replaced Kuemper for the third period of the Wild's previous game, a 7-4 win at Florida on Friday night.

"It's not the way we wanted to start the game," Dubnyk said. "If (Boudreau) didn't think I was ready or he wants a spark whatever it is, he's the coach. My job is just be ready to stay in there and battle if I need to."

Chicago finished 3-1 against Minnesota in the regular season. The Blackhawks and Wild have met in the postseason three times — in 2013, 2014 and 2015 — and Chicago won all three series and twice went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Set up by Panarin, Kane opened the scoring at 51 seconds from the edge of the right circle on a shot that deflected off Wild defenseman Marco Scandella.

Panarin made it 2-0 at 4:38 on a rising one-timer from the slot that sailed over Dubnyk's blocker. That prompted Boudreau to summon Kuemper.

"A good start, for sure," Kane said. "We knew we needed to have this one."

Crawford was sharp in the second period, stopping all 20 shots he faced. Meanwhile, van Riemsdyk scored at 5:28 during a delayed penalty to make it 3-1.

Minnesota's Ryan White pulled down Jordin Tootoo along the left boards. Play continued and Marcus Kruger stepped in and fed the loose puck to van Riemsdyk, who had streaked to the edge of the crease.

Granlund cut it to 3-2 just 46 seconds into the third. But Chicago responded with 6:18 left, with Duncan Keith making an outstanding pass to free Hossa for his first goal since Feb. 19 at Buffalo.

Ducks 5, Capitals 2

Corey Perry had two goals and an assist, Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and two assists, and Anaheim sent NHL-leading Washington to its fourth consecutive loss.

Ryan Kesler also had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who won three of four to move ahead of the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. Rickard Rakell also scored his 29th goal, and Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves.

John Carlson and Marcus Johansson scored for the Capitals, who are on the longest skid of their outstanding season. Alex Ovechkin failed to score a goal in his 10th straight game. That's the longest drought of his 12-season, 907-game NHL career.

Nielsen's goal.

Canadiens 4, Oilers 1

Paul Byron scored twice and added an assist in Montreal's victory over Edmonton.

Max Pacioretty also scored twice, and Carey Price made 24 saves. The Canadiens have won seven of their last eight.

Milan Lucic scored for the Oilers. They have dropped three in a row.

Sharks 5, Stars 1

Joe Pavelski scored twice, backup goalie Aaron Dell made 29 saves to win his fourth straight start, and San Jose beat Dallas.

Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward and Chris Tierney also scored to give the first-place Sharks their sixth win in eight games. San Jose remained seven points ahead of Anaheim in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.

Remi Elie scored his first career goal for the Stars, who got off to a rough start to a four-game road trip.