Shorthanded goals 25 seconds apart in the first period fueled the Minnesota Wild to a bounce back road victory over the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night.
Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar each scored when Montreal was on a power play in the opening 20 minutes and Minnesota never looked back, cruising to 5-2 win to stop the bleeding, so to speak, after getting pounded 7-4 in Toronto on Saturday while also losing Matt Boldy and Alex Goligoski to injuries.
Put it on repeat for the @xcelenergy #HighEnergyPlay of the week 🔁#mnwild pic.twitter.com/3A6qBpPCzQ
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2023
The Wild played with 11 forwards and just six defensemen, but plenty of breaks were provided thanks to the Canadiens committing so many penalties that Minnesota was on the power play eight times, scoring on three of them: Joel Eriksson Ek early in the second period and then again just over five minutes into the third period, and Kirill Kaprizov late in the second period.
When the plan comes together perfectly 🤌#mnwild pic.twitter.com/9V2HtPZpNo
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2023
KIRILL x ZUCCY SPECIAL COMING RIGHT UP 🚨#mnwild pic.twitter.com/ZHnAYem36b
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 18, 2023
Overall, Minnesota dominated on special teams, scoring three power play goals, killing all four Montreal power plays and scoring a pair of shorthanded goals.
Meanwhile, Marc-Andre Fleury made his first start of the season after Filip Gustavsson started in goal against Florida and Toronto, and the future Hall of Famer made 26 saves and was given a standing ovation by Montreal fans as it was likely Fleury’s final game in Montreal. He was also named the first star of the game.
Up next: Wild vs. Los Angeles Kings, Thursday at 7 p.m. CT.
