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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Matching the Chicago Blackhawks is a tough task, and the Minnesota Wild werent going to catch up without more presence and production from their top forwards. After a couple of quiet games and two sluggish periods, Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise and the rest of the Wilds skill-position players came to life. Granlund scored twice, Parise had a goal and an assist, and Erik Haula jump-started the Wild by scoring early in the third period in a 4-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Tuesday in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series. "The big guys definitely came through tonight," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first shutout in the playoffs in eight years, and the Blackhawks had their lead whittled to 2-1 with their first loss in 2 1/2 weeks. "Today is a tremendous team effort," Bryzgalov said. "We play very, very, very nice hockey." Game 4 is Friday in Minnesota. The announced attendance of 19,416 was the most in franchise history, but the atmosphere didnt match that until shortly after the second intermission. Pucks were whizzing way wide of the net, and clogged shooting lanes led to plenty of thwarted opportunities for both sides. "Theyre probably as tight a team as were going to play all year," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Haula finally brought the fans to their feet. The rookie centre from Finland, once a standout for the University of Minnesota, started the play from the neutral zone and finished in front of the rush for a tap-in of Justin Fontaines slick pass through the defence. Then less than 3 minutes later, Granlund took a pass from Jason Pominville and went to his backhand to slip a high shot past Corey Crawfords glove for the 2-0 lead. The crowd began to taunt the goalie with a "Craw-ford! Craw-ford!" chant, and Parise put the exclamation point on the night with a power-play goal, the first in 25 chances for the Wild over their last two playoff series against the Blackhawks. Then Granlund tacked on an empty-netter with 1:17 left. "We know when we play like we can, we can beat any team in this league, especially here at home," Granlund said. Crawford stopped only 14 shots for the Blackhawks, who dropped their first two games to St. Louis in the last round before winning four in a row. Since losing to the Blues on April 19, they took the lead in all six games and outscored their opponents 23-9. Despite outscoring the Wild 9-3 in the first two games of this series, the Blackhawks have not been able to test Bryzgalov much. "We cant let it frustrate us. We just have to do something about it," captain Jonathan Toews said, adding: "Theyre a smart defensive team. Give them credit. But its more about what were not doing." The blue liners were in full force early for Blackhawks, who blocked a whopping 25 shots in Game 2, six more than the Wild even sent at the net. Niklas Hjalmarsson bravely took one on the neck Sunday, and while the seventh-year veteran was cleared to play, the Swede wasnt even allowed to talk. Quenneville said before the game he wasnt worried about any communication problems between Hjalmarsson and his teammates. Had he been able to yell, Hjalmarsson wouldve been easy to hear for most of the night. For all the noise this crowd made in the last round, the synergy between vocal fan support and a relentless attack by the Wild was largely missing during the first 40 minutes. Yeo said this was the tightest-checking game hed ever been a part of. The offence came, eventually. Pominville has only one goal in nine playoff games, but he had two assists in this one. Mikko Koivu didnt make the scoring summary, but Yeo said his captain played a critical part in helping stifle the Blackhawks and their top lines. None of the Wilds top six forwards scored in the first two games, with Parise and Pominville managing the only assists. The Wild faced yet another desperate situation after trailing 2-0 in the last round against the Colorado Avalanche. "It was pretty familiar territory for us. We knew we had to win the game," Parise said. NOTES: The Blackhawks scratched defenceman Nick Leddy, his first absence since his rookie season of 2010-11. Quenneville said he wanted Sheldon Brookbank in the lineup for a physical presence. ... Bryzgalov had three shutouts in the 2006 playoffs for Anaheim. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair. China Jerseys . Off-Season Game Plan examines a team facing some challenging times as GM Bryan Murray tries to put together a roster for next season. Perhaps the first challenge facing Murray is that its expected he will be moving out Jason Spezza, a premier point producer who is about to enter the final year of his contract.TORONTO -- Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri apologized Saturday for insulting Brooklyn before an outdoor gathering of fans in advance of Torontos NBA playoff game against the Nets. Brooklyn had the last laugh, however, hanging on for a 94-87 victory in Game 1 of the first-round best-of-seven series. Emotions ran high as the Raptors returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and Ujiri helped stoke the pre-game fire. Ujiri, a former NBA executive of the year in Denver, took the stage before the afternoon game to address pumped-up fans under bright sunshine at Maple Leafs Square. The moment seemed to get to him as he paired an F-bomb and Brooklyn on his way off the stage. The crowd loved it, roaring in response. He handed the microphone to his boss, MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke, who smiled and shook his head before leaving the stage. Video of the trash talk quickly surfaced on Twitter and other social media. The GM was quick to do damage control, with team officials summoning media for a halftime gathering in the hall outside the playoff media centre at the Air Canada Centre. "I apologize. Wrong choice of words out there," Ujiri told some three dozen media. "This thing is really not about me, its about the players and the playoffs. So just trying to get the crowd out there rattled. Wrong choice of words. "I apologize to kids out there and to the Brooklyn guys. Nothing against them. Just trying to get our fans going. Thats it." He declined to take questionns.dddddddddddd But he offered an addendum, over his shoulder, as he headed down the corridor. "You know how I feel," he said. "I dont like them (the Nets) but I apologize." Adding to the drama of the day, the shot clocks stopped working -- prompting a break -- in the third quarter. The shot clock was subsequently counted down by longtime PA announcer Herbie Kuhn as he looked at the stopwatch held by the official next to him. Kuhn likely needed a post-game throat lozenge. The crowd was loud and proud inside the building and out. Those inside sported giveaway white T-shirts with the words Northern Uprising around a Raptors logo on them. Drake, hip-hop star and Raptors global ambassador, sported one of the shirts under his jacket in his normal courtside perch. He was heavily involved in the Raptors rebrand, built around the slogan "We The North." Ujiri was feisty prior to the series, after talk the Nets may have slipped down the standings in order to face the Raptors. The Toronto GM said his team "havent lost one second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets." "They can do whatever they want," Ujiri said Thursday. "Well be right here." The Toronto Sun tabloid helped stir the pot with a Page 1 headline that said "Raptors vs. Dinosaurs," in a shot at Brooklyns aging stars. Game 2 is Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto (48-34) and Brooklyn (44-38) split four meetings during the regular season. ' ' '