In Montreal, Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves in a 4-2 win for the Minnesota Wild as they handed the Canadiens a rare home loss this season.
Eric Staal scored a shorthanded marker for the Wild early in the third to lead the Wild to the win.
The win was the ninth straight for Minnesota in a season where long runs have been common.
“I’ve been a part of some good runs before, never 10 in a row, so this is fun,” Staal said. “You want to keep this riding as long as you can, and it’s a lot of fun winning. We’re going into the break feeling real good and it’s going to be a great effort to put everything on the line [Friday] and then exhale for a couple of days.”
The WIld improved to 20-8-4 on the season and got goals from Jordan Schroeder, Jared Spurgeon and Jason Zucker.
“What they do well is clog it up as a five-man unit,” Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher said. “They do a good job of shutting down speed and making it tough to generate chances that way. They’re always in your face, they’re a well-structured team. Obviously they’ve won as many hockey games as they have for a reason. They’re tough to beat.”
Max Pacioretty and Artturi Lehkonen were the goal scorers for the Habs.
Minnesota rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits for the win.
“We hung in there pretty well,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I thought it was a really good game. Unfortunately for them, they were using four defensemen almost for the whole game and I think they got a little tired at the end. But I thought we never quit and we always believed, and when you believe, good things happen.”
WATCH: All Wild vs. Canadiens highlights
Carey Price made 23 saves in taking the loss.
“He’s a good goalie. His journey’s been a rough one at times, but you’ve got to respect his resilience and the way he’s carried himself throughout the whole process,” Price of Dubnyk. “You’ve got to tip your hat to a guy like that, sticking with it and finding a way to be successful.”
Montreal has lost two of three homes games of late.
“I think this one is different by the way that a lot of the games happened on the road as well, so that’s never easy to do in this league, to get road wins in a row. So for sure, it’s a great feeling and you want to keep doing it.” — Wild center Mikko Koivu
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