Minnesota Wild left wing Kevin Fiala scores a goal on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Michael McNiven during the third period at Xcel Energy Center.The Wild won 8-2 on Jan. 24, 2022.Harrison Barden/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Nico Sturm had a goal and two assists, Connor Dewar scored his first career goal and had an assist, and the Minnesota Wild stormed to an 8-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night in St. Paul.
Jared Spurgeon, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Fiala and Matt Boldy each notched a goal and an assist for the Wild, who posted a season high in goals. Jordie Benn and Marcus Foligno also scored for Minnesota, which won its third in a row.
Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick scored for Montreal, which is winless in its last three.
Wild goaltender Cam Talbot made 14 saves on 15 shots before he left the game for an unspecified reason. Kaapo Kahkonen replaced Talbot and stopped five of six shots.
Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau gave up five goals on 32 shots. Backup Michael McNiven entered the game and allowed three goals on seven shots.
Montreal seized a 1-0 lead only 1:23 after the opening faceoff. Hoffman skated toward the slot and blasted a one-timer past Talbot’s glove side for his seventh goal.
Minnesota tied the score at 1-1 less than two minutes later. After the Wild won a faceoff in their offensive zone, Spurgeon raised his stick high and ripped a slap shot through traffic for his fourth goal.
The Wild went on top 2-1 with 10:38 remaining in the first period. Foligno found a loose puck in the slot, spun around and fired a shot for his 17th goal.
Minnesota added two goals in 22 seconds to pull ahead 4-1 in the second period.
Dewar struck first with his first career goal at 4:01 of the second frame. The 22-year-old scored on a long wrist shot for the milestone goal in his 11th game.
Moments later, Sturm made it a three-goal lead for the Wild when he scored his seventh goal.
Zuccarello netted his 12th goal in the final minute of the second period to make it 5-1.
The Canadiens cut the deficit to 5-2 at 4:24 of the third period. Pitlick scored against his former team on a point-blank shot from the right side of the crease.
Minnesota finished the rout with unanswered goals from Boldy, Benn and Fiala.