Minnesota Wild claimed a 3-2 victory over Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round of the NHL season on Saturday evening. The result marks both sides' first competitive match of 2026-27, with the home side taking all three points at face value.
No minute-by-minute breakdown is available for this fixture, so the detail rests on what the scoreboard tells us. The visitors came back from behind to level proceedings before the hosts found the decisive goal late on.
We had called this one ahead of kick-off — home win, sixty per cent confidence — and that assessment held water. Minnesota's recent record against Colorado showed they can string wins together when the game opens up, and here they did enough to see it through.
Both teams enter the standings with zero games, zero points, and zero of everything else. The table has not moved yet, and there is little to read into positions at this stage. What matters for now is the three-point swing for the home side.
Chicago's last five matches read as a mixed bag: a win over San Jose, losses to Buffalo, St Louis, Carolina, and San Jose again. They will need to find consistency if they want to climb out of fourth place when the real games begin.
The Wild's recent form against Colorado was uneven — two wins, three losses across five matches — but Saturday's result suggests they can close out tight games. The goal difference sits at plus one for now, and that is something to build on.
