Wild beat Hawks 1-0 in season opener

Posted October 04, 2007 11:00 pm

Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Niklas Backstrom and the Minnesota defense picked up where they left off.

Backstrom made 27 saves, Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored, and the Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.

Backstrom, the unflappable goalie from Finland, was given a two-year, $6.2 million contract in June that led to the trade of Manny Fernandez to Boston. In his first game under the burden of the big money and the starting job, Backstrom was just as good as he was as a 29-year-old rookie who helped the Wild make the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

He didn't give up many rebounds and didn't budge when the Blackhawks had a brief 5-on-3 midway through the second period.

Nikolai Khabibulin wasn't bad himself in the other net. He stopped 23 shots, letting only one get by him in the middle frame when Minnesota's attack was the strongest.

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