In Montreal Thursday, it took only two players for the Minnesota Wild to stop a three-game skid.
Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves to shutout the Canadiens, 3-0.
Jason Zucker scored all three Wild goals for his first NHL hat trick as the Wild improved to 6-7-2.
“He’s single-handedly scoring every one of our goals, literally, so he’s got that capability,” Dubnyk said. “He’s gotten better every single game every year from the time I got traded here (from the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 15, 2015) and he’s a fun guy to watch, he’s a great player, and even better guy in the room. So I’m always happy to see him score.”
The game was scoreless through two periods before Zucker struck for his first goal early in the third on a shorthanded effort.
Zucker made it 2-0 midway through the period and his hat came on an empty net marker.
“He’s got the last two games covered,” Eric Staal said. “You know, he’s moving really well. The puck seems to be finding him and he’s got some offensive skill to finish and right now it’s going in so we want to keep that riding as long as we can. He’s a good competitor and it was fun to be a part of his hat trick tonight.”
[WATCH: All Wild vs. Canadiens highlights]
Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves in the losing effort as the Habs dropped to 7-9-1.
“We weren’t opportunistic. They worked hard, too. They played 60 minutes and I’d say that the fact that they had lost three straight, they were more desperate than we were,” the Canadiens’ Phillip Danaultsaid of the Habs’ losing effort.
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