In St Paul, the Minnesota Wild came up with a solid effort and defeated the visiting Montreal Canadiens, 4-3.
Zach Parise picked up the game-winner with just over seven minutes left in regulation.
“We need to remember this feeling,” Zucker said. “This feels great. … We’ve got to make sure that we remember this feeling and make sure we want to get it back.”
Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves to get the win as the Wild moved to 2-6-0.
“It’s big. We have a lot of work left, but I think this stuff can help,” Marcus Foligno said. “A win like tonight and the way we did it can really kind of boost your spirits a bit. The guys are happy again. It’s good to see some smiles on guys faces. But we know it’s right back to practice tomorrow and we have to start playing more of a 60-minute effort like we did tonight.”
Phillip Danault struck for two goals and Tomas Tatar added a single marker for the Habs.
“We knew [Minnesota was] a good team. I don’t think they needed that reminder,
Brendan Gallagher said after the loss. “We know how hard it is to play in this building; it hasn’t been a place where we’ve had a lot of success. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy night. It kind of just came down to them finding a way to put one more in the net than we did in the third period, and they get two points. We’ve got to go home and obviously correct that.”
Jason Zucker, Foligno and Brad Hunt also scored for the Wild.
Zucker gave the Wild a 1-0 lead but the Canadiens rallied back for a 2-1 lead.
“It was a different feeling for us [when they scored two quick goals],” Zucker said. “It wasn’t like we were playing poorly and it as just a matter of time until they scored; we were playing really well. … So yeah, we just stuck with it. It was great.”
Zucker, who had some disparaging remarks for his head coach this week, apologized and responded with a decent game.
“It’s a good group,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I’ve always said that it’s a group that cares. These guys care. It’d be great if we could put a little string [of wins] together.”
[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Wild highlights]
Keith Kinkaid made 29 saves in the loss.
“[Kinkaid] was, by far, our best player tonight,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said. “The first period, if it wasn’t for him, the game might have been over. But he stood tall and made some big saves and gave us a chance here tonight.”
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