Wild blow out Chicago in last preseason tuneup

Ready or not, the next time the Wild practice it will be game week.

Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped xx shots in a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in their sixth and final preseason game Friday at United Center.

Marco Rossi, Jonas Brodin, Brock Faber, Marcus Johansson and Kirill Kaprizov also scored goals for Minnesota, which will have the weekend off before returning to practice on Monday to prepare for Thursday night’s regular season opener.

The Wild finished the preseason with a 4-2 record after beating Winnipeg and Chicago twice each and losing a pair of games to Dallas.

Playing a lineup that largely resembled the one that will take the ice against the Blue Jackets Thursday at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild blew out Chicago for the second time this week after Tuesday’s 7-2 victory at the X.

Forward Matt Boldy and defenseman Jake Middleton did not travel to Chicago because they’re recovering from lower-body and upper-body injuries, respectively. They’re expected to be available against Columbus.

Rossi scored late in a 4-minute man advantage at 7:01, and Brodin scored 4 seconds later off the ensuing faceoff, sending a pass into the zone that caromed off Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek and into the net to make it 2-0 early.

Mats Zuccarello scored on a 4-on-3 advantage with 33 seconds left in the second period — sending a wrist shot past a shielded Mrazek — for a 3-1 lead. Brock Faber scored on a rush 13 seconds into the third period, scoring 5-hole on a backhand after a pass from Joel Eriksson Ek, to make it 4-1.

The Wild quickly blew the game open when Johansson scored to finish a 2-on-1 with Liam Ohgren at 1:46 of the third period to make it 5-1. That was an important play for Ohgren in his last game to make an impression on a coaching staff that will spend the weekend deciding who will remain on NHL roster.

The deadline to cut down to 23 players is 4 p.m. Monday CDT.

Kaprizov finished a rush off a neutral zone turnover by deflecting a feed from Zuccarello past Mrazek to make it 6-1 at 7:26 of the third. Fleury, making his second preseason start, stopped 21 of 22 shots. Mrazek stopped 28 of 34.

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