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CHICAGO -- This time, Niklas Backstrom made it through warm-ups without any injuries. It was the start of one nice night for the goalie and the Minnesota Wild. Backstrom made 33 saves in his first win of the season and the Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday in a rematch of their first-round playoff series. "I think I just play every game the same," Backstrom said. "You try to go out there and play your best. Be at your best for your team and your teammates when they need you. I think thats the way Im looking at it." But this one was quite a turnaround from the playoffs, when Backstrom was scratched from Game 1 in Chicago after he hurt his leg reaching for a puck during warm-ups. That was it for Backstrom for the series, and Chicago eliminated Minnesota in five games on the way to its second Stanley Cup title in four seasons. "Its a new season, its a new team," said Backstrom, dismissing any talk about the post-season meeting. "So theres no reason to sit around, we try to learn this year." Jason Pominville had two goals in his 600th career game as Minnesota earned its third consecutive win. Zach Parise, Kyle Brodziak and Justin Fontaine also scored for the Wild, and Ryan Suter and Mikael Granlund had two assists apiece. Bryan Bickell scored for the fourth consecutive game for the Blackhawks, who had recorded at least one point in each of their past seven games. Patrick Kane added his team-best sixth goal in the third period. "Its nice scoring, but most importantly, its nice to score when youre winning," Bickell said. "Tonight was a rough game for the team, defensively and offensively." Chicago committed five of the 12 penalties in the game and went 1 for 7 on the power play. It has allowed 11 goals in the past two games. "Its two games in a row we gave up five goals and more," captain Jonathan Toews said. "Its one thing that people are talking about us not scoring as much, but sometimes you dont need to score than many to win if youre playing smart defensively." Backstrom was terrific in his first start since he strained his right knee during a 3-2 loss at Nashville on Oct. 8. He came off the bench when Josh Harding suffered a lower-body injury Thursday night and stopped all seven shots that he faced during the third period of a 3-1 home win against Carolina. The 35-year-old Backstrom was particularly hard on Patrick Sharp, turning him away on one strong rush in the first, and making another nice stop on the forward during a Blackhawks power play in the second. He also made a couple of saves on Marian Hossa. "He made some big saves, especially in the second when they started making a pretty good push," Brodziak said. "He did an unbelievable job and that gave us a good opportunity to be able to extend the lead." Parise had a power-play rebound goal in the first and Brodziak made it 2-0 when he tipped Marco Scandellas long shot past Corey Crawford just 63 seconds into the second period. The Blackhawks looked as if they had their first score when Jeremy Morins shot went off Backstroms left shoulder, popped into the air and trickled over the line following a scrum in front of the net. But the goal was waived off when a long replay review showed Andrew Shaw made contact with the puck with his stick while it was over the crossbar. Bickells wrist shot through Backstroms legs cut it to 2-1 at 13:46, but Granlund set up Pominville with 2:18 to go in the period. Granlund then turned Nick Leddys turnover into another Pominville goal at 9:18 of the third, giving Minnesota a 4-1 lead. "There have been chances and they havent gone in and you know its just a matter for time before theyre going to go in," Wild coach Mike Yeo said, praising the Granlund-Pominville connection. "When youve got a guy who can shoot the puck like that and a guy who can distribute it like that, you sure like to think its going to eventually pay off, and tonight was a great example of that." Marcus Kruger scored his first goal of the season with 30 seconds left, but that was it for the Blackhawks in their second straight loss. Crawford finished with 20 saves. NOTES: The Blackhawks and Wild play again in Minnesota on Monday night. ... Sharp finished with seven shots on goal. ... Blackhawks C Michal Handzus sat out with an upper-body injury. The 36-year-old forward has a goal and two assists in nine games this season. ... Handzus, F Ben Smith and D Sheldon Brookbank were scratched for Chicago. ... In addition to Harding, Ds Keith Ballard and Jonas Brodin were scratched for the Wild. Mattias Ekholm Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Juuse Saros Jersey . Browns advice worked. Irving scored 20 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 88-82 Saturday night. Irving made his first shot of the night on a layup a little over three minutes into the game. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/. Chris Heisey followed with a two-run triple and Billy Hamilton added an RBI double, all but sealing Cincinnatis fourth straight victory and seventh in eight games. Brandon Phillips, celebrating his 33rd birthday, hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth for the Reds before pinch-hitter Buster Posey tied it with an RBI double off hard-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom half. Craig Smith Jersey . Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. Roman Josi Jersey . - The Carolina Panthers believe Steve Smith lost "top-end" speed, a big reason the franchise parted ways with its all-time leading receiver.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Brandon Lyon that includes an invitation to their big league camp for spring training. The 34-year-old right-hander had a 4.98 ERA in 37 appearances with the New York Mets last yeaar.dddddddddddd. He signed with the Boston Red Sox on July 19, making four appearances out of their Triple-A bullpen before opting out of his contract. Lyon went unsigned for the last two months of the regular season. The agreement was announced on Tuesday. ' ' '