Martin Havlat's first two goals in a Minnesota uniform helped the Wild blank the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-0, yesterday in St. Paul.

Havlat, who came to Minnesota over the summer as a free agent after spending the previous three seasons in Chicago, needed just 84 seconds to score on a tap-in after a pass from Benoit Pouliot. Havlat and newly acquired Petr Sykora also scored in the third period.

Minnesota goalies Nicklas Backstrom and Anton Khudobin combined to stop all 18 Chicago shots. Backstrom played the first two periods and stopped 11 shots.

Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were scratched and forward Adam Burish limped off the ice in the first period and didn't return.

Goalie Antti Niemi started and made 12 saves in the first two periods for the Blackhawks. Corey Crawford made two in the third.

Forward Kris Versteeg sustained an upper-body injury in the Blackhawks' preseason overtime loss to the Washington Capitals Saturday night and will be day to day. Versteeg was a finalist in voting for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year last season, finishing behind Columbus goalie Steve Mason and Anaheim forward Bobby Ryan. Versteeg had 22 goals and 31 assists in 78 games in 2008-09.

"He got hit late in the first and wasn't feeling too hot in his upper body," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We'll see."

Michael Ryder and Chuck Kobasew scored as the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1, in Quebec City. Boston rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 25 of 26 shots.