Wild demolish Blackhawks in franchise's 1st outdoor game

The self-proclaimed "State of Hockey" lived up to its billing on Sunday.

Hosting their first outdoor game in franchise history, the Minnesota Wild dominated their division rival, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 in front of a near-sellout crowd at TCF Bank Stadium.

Matt Dumba opened the scoring just three minutes into the first and four different goal-scorers followed as Thomas Vanek, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, and Minnesota native Ryan Carter all found the back of the net.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

Erik Haula, meanwhile, was awarded the team's sixth goal after being taken down while the Blackhawks net was empty. After being named the game's first star, the former Minnesota Golden Gopher threw his stick into the stands toward some young fans.

Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves to pick up his third straight win, only being beat by Patrick Kane's 35th goal of the season. The Blackhawks winger now has a league-leading 84 points.

Pominville and Haula led the Wild with three points each, tying them with seven other players for the most points ever scored in an outdoor game. Carter and Niederreiter both added assists to finish with multi-point games as well.

The Blackhawks now hold a 1-3-0 record in outdoor games, with their lone win coming in 2014 when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field, beating them 5-1.