Turco bounces back for Hawks in 3-1 win vs. Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- This was the kind of game Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has been waiting to see.

It's not so much that the Hawks rebounded from Friday's ugly 7-4 loss to Edmonton with a win over the Wild on Saturday night it's how they did it.

The Hawks were the tightest they've been defensively all season in front of goalie Marty Turco, who turned aside 25 shots in a 3-1 victory at Excel Energy Center.

“To me it's by far the best positional, up-tempo, patient game,” Turco said. “Sometimes it helps not having your full lineup in there, knowing you've got to be more of a team and everyone has an important role. Tonight everyone was solid. One's great, but consistency would be huge for us.”

The Hawks played without three key regulars in Marian Hossa, Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell, but it didn't matter.

“We had a very businesslike, real purpose to our game tonight,” Quenneville said. “We got contributions from everybody and were hard to play against. Usually you get rewarded when you do that.

“I thought the approach was excellent right from the morning meeting to before the game, on the bench, on the ice, lots of talk and lots of enthusiasm. Maybe that underdog spirit or underdog look, sometimes you can overcome a lot when you really dig in and have a purpose.”

Troy Brouwer and Duncan Keith each had a goal and assist. It was the struggling Brouwer's first goal after 12 zeros in his best game of the season.

“It wasn't so much a monkey, it was more of a gorilla on my back,” Brouwer said. “For me to go that many games without a goal, it gets a little bit frustrating.”

Brouwer started the game skating on the fourth line but was bumped up to the first line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane after his crunching hit on the Wild's Nick Schultz with eight minutes left in the first period.

“He had a big hit early and you could see he was into the game,” Quenneville said. “He got a chance to move up with those guys and got rewarded as well.

“He earned the opportunity, but he has to play with that bite in his game.”

Brouwer's goal was huge, coming on a Keith rebound with 31 seconds to play in the second period and snapping a scoreless tie.

It allowed the Hawks to take a lead to the third period, which they padded on Keith's wraparound goal at 3:26.

“We were smart on our side of the puck tonight, we were responsible top to bottom, our forwards and defensemen,” Toews said. “We didn't skate through puck areas. We weren't lazy and played the right way. When we play like that you can see we only have to score 2 or 3 goals to win.”

Marek Zidlicky's goal with 5:54 to play brought the Wild close, but Turco made a sprawling save on Chuck Kobasew a minute later to preserve the lead and set the stage for Jake Dowell's empty-netter late.

“Chicago obviously was motivated tonight,” Wild coach Todd Richards said. “I can see why they won a Stanley Cup.”

Tim Sassone's game tracker

Blackhawks 3, Wild 1

Three starsL

1. Troy Brouwer, Hawks: A goal and assist to go with 3 hits and 3 blocked shots in his best game of the season.

2. Duncan Keith, Hawks: Plus-3 with a goal and assist in 27-plus minutes.

3. Marty Turco, Hawks: Made a huge save (among his 25) late on Chuck Kobasew to preserve a 2-1 lead.

Block party:

The Hawks blocked 21 Minnesota shots with defenseman Nick Boynton getting 6 more.

Wild about Marty:

Marty Turco improved his career record against the Wild to 15-4-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average.