ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Last spring, the Chicago Blackhawks disposed of the Minnesota Wild in five games of the first-round playoff series on their way to the Stanley Cup championship.

With the Blackhawks now a Central Division rival in the realigned NHL, the Wild have their hands full. But they've clearly closed the gap.

Marco Scandella's slap shot with 1:48 left, the defenseman's first goal this season, lifted the Wild to a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks on Thursday.

The Wild have won two of three meetings with the Blackhawks this season.

Jonas Brodin scored on a power play with 5:39 remaining to tie the game for the Wild, who raised their home record to 12-3-2 and handed the Blackhawks their first loss in their past seven road games.

With Charlie Coyle partially screening Corey Crawford at the edge of the crease, Brodin wound up and sent the puck ricocheting off Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya and past the goalie's outstretched glove.

Crawford made 19 saves.

After nearly taking a 2-0 lead into the second intermission, the Wild suddenly trailed 3-2 after a forceful Blackhawks comeback. The first two of Chicago's four shots on goal in the third period got past Minnesota goalie Josh Harding, first by Brandon Saad and then by Marian Hossa.

The Blackhawks had a season-low 19 shots.

Harding stopped 16 shots and improved to 7-3 in his career against the Blackhawks, who entered the night with an NHL-high 44 points. He's 12-1 at home this season.

The Wild went six consecutive games without a first-period goal until Matt Cooke snapped a shot past Crawford.  Zach Parise's score on a power play, the first by the Wild in seven games, in gave them a 2-0 lead they had until 16.6 seconds were left before the end of the second period.

Joakim Nordstrom deflected the puck behind him through the slot, where Jeremy Morin arrived to reach forward and guide the puck in one motion past Harding, who was coming off a 2-0 shutout of Philadelphia on Monday night. Morin and Nordstrom were both recalled on Wednesday from Rockford of the AHL.

Then just 43 seconds into the third period, Saad checked Ryan Suter off the puck, took control and snapped a shot into the top right corner of the net to tie the game.

Less than 6 minutes later, Hossa got loose down low on a power play and sneaked a wrist shot over Harding's shoulder for the lead.

After their six-game winning streak on the road, the Blackhawks returned home on Tuesday and lost to Dallas 4-3 despite 50 shots on goal.

This was quite the contrast in offensive opportunity.

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