Wild score eight against Canadiens, extend point streak to seven

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to seven games with an 8-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Xcel Energy Center on Monday.

Nico Sturm had a goal and two assists, and Matt Boldy, Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Connor Dewar and Jared Spurgeon each had a goal and an assist for Minnesota (25-10-3), which is 6-0-1 during the streak.
Cam Talbot, who was making his return after missing five games with a lower-body injury, made 14 saves before leaving after the second period. He was replaced by Kaapo Kahkonen, who allowed one goal on six shots.
"He tweaked the same injury, but not the same spot," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Not serious, but why put him back in? That was our thought process. He definitely could've went.
"You're always concerned. Let's see how he comes out of it tomorrow."

Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick scored for Montreal (8-26-7), which has lost nine of 10 games (1-5-4) since the holiday break, each of which has come on the road. Cayden Primeau allowed five goals on 32 shots before being replaced at the start of the third by Michael McNiven, who allowed three goals on seven shots in his NHL debut.
"Throw that one right out the window," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "Obviously, every single guy in that locker room knows we need (to be) better. I know it's been a long road trip and whatnot, and for the last three games, I thought, you know, that our game was there. We were finding ways to get a point and coming together. I know that we've been giving up a lot of scoring chances, but tonight there's no exception. You got to find a way even when you're tired and things like that, and we just left both our goalies out to dry."
Hoffman gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 1:23 of the first period, but Spurgeon tied it 1-1 with a slap shot through a screen at 3:04.
Marcus Foligno got the rebound of Jordan Greenway's initial chance and scored on a turnaround shot in the slot to give the Wild a 2-1 lead at 9:22.
Foligno has scored 27 points (17 goals, 10 assists) this season, an NHL career high.
Dewar scored his first NHL goal at 4:01 of the second period to extend the lead to 3-1, beating Primeau glove side from just inside the blue line.
"I've kind of taken pride in my whole career I think," Dewar said. "Every time you see me play, I'm a better player, every day. That's the way I want to try."

Sturm scored 22 seconds later with a tap in at the left post to make it 4-1, and Zuccarello pushed the lead to 5-1 at 19:29 with a shot from a sharp angle off the left shoulder of Primeau.
Pitlick, who was claimed off waivers from the Wild on Jan. 12, made it 5-2 at 4:24 of the third period.
However, Boldy scored a power-play goal to make it 6-2 at 6:04.
"We need to really be having everyone at the top of their game to give ourselves a chance, and tonight we didn't have that," Montreal coach Dominique Ducharme said. " They were much better than us."
Jordie Benn scored his first of the season off a drop pass from Sturm to push the lead to 7-2 at 9:58, and Fiala scored on a rebound near the right post at 15:12 for the 8-2 final.
"Every line, every line can play," Benn said. "Obviously, you got your top lines that are going to eat up a lot of minutes, and those guys that slide in at three and four are eating up some good minutes, and you can tell. They're putting up points and playing really well."
NOTES: With two assists, Kirill Kaprizov became the fastest player in Wild history to reach 100 points (44 goals, 56 assists in 92 games). He is also the fifth active player to reach the mark in fewer than 100 games, joining Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (77 games), Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (92). … The eight goals are tied for the most in a game in Minnesota history. … Zuccarello has scored 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) and Fiala has scored 11 points (seven goals, four assists) during respective nine-game point streaks. …Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak (concussion protocol) left the game after the first period.