Game Recap: Wild 5, Canadiens 2

MONTREAL -- The Minnesota Wild scored five goals on special teams, including two short-handed 25 seconds apart, in a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice on the power play, Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Mats Zuccarello had three assists for Minnesota (2-1-0).

“We were fortunate with a couple of PK goals early, but we liked our 5-on-5 game early as well,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We hit a couple of posts, we had a lot of good opportunities there too, we just didn’t finish. So, I liked our overall game too.”

Minnesota was 3-for-8 on the power play, and Montreal was 0-for-5 and allowed two short-handed goals.

“I think we’ve got to stay out of the penalty box,” Canadiens forward Sean Monahan said. “I mean, when you get that many touches and that many opportunities, it’s going to come to bite you. But our power play, we’ve got to be better and start to simplify it. And I think when we do that, it’s going to generate a lot.”

Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in his 545th NHL win, moving him within six of tying Patrick Roy for second all-time.

“'Flower' was really good, he kept us in the game,” Evason said.

The Sorel, Quebec, native received an ovation after being named First Star of the game, a tribute that touched him like the reception the Bell Centre crowd gave him after he earned his 500th NHL win for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2-0 win against the Canadiens on Dec. 9, 2021.

“I’ll have good memories of tonight, and the 500th too,” Fleury said.

Fleury did not want to speak about the possibility of Tuesday being his final game in Montreal.

“I’m not sure if it’s over or not, so I don’t want to talk too much about that side right now,” Fleury said. “For today, the present moment, it was a wonderful evening.”

Tanner Pearson scored for a second straight game, and Sam Montembeault made 30 saves for Montreal (1-1-1), which announced after the game that forward Kirby Dach will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and MCL sustained in a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Saturday.

“We just kind of came out pretty flat and didn’t have a great start,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “We took way too many penalties again and kind of dug ourselves too big of a hole. When you take that many penalties, it just kind of ruins the flow of the game and we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot the last couple of games with penalties.”

Brandon Duhaime gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 9:20 with the first of two short-handed goals when he drove the left side on a 2-on-1 with Eriksson Ek and shot past Montembeault’s glove after Josh Anderson turned the puck over in the offensive zone.

Connor Dewar made it 2-0 at 9:45 with the second short-handed goal in 25 seconds. Dewar chipped in a rebound after Duhaime’s wrist shot was stopped by Montembeault.

Eriksson Ek made it 3-0 on a 5-on-3 at 2:17 of the second period, putting his own rebound past Montembeault after Zuccarello set him up from behind the net.

Pearson cut it to 3-1 at 9:47 with a shot under Fleury’s glove on a 2-on-1 rush.

Kaprizov pushed it to 4-1 with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play at 17:22.

Eriksson Ek scored his second with the man-advantage at 5:20 of the third, slamming the puck past the right pad of Montembeault in tight for a 5-1 lead.

“Our PK’s been good,” Evason said. “They have obviously pressured and had a lot of good opportunities. So, it’s nice to get our power play going too.”

Alex Newhook scored from the right circle off a seam pass by David Savard at 17:35 for the 5-2 final.

“They work hard,” Monahan said. “They’re a veteran team. Their top guys were moving the puck and when you’re playing against a team like that, where their top guys want to touch the puck and they’re on the power play all game, they start to feel good about themselves.”

NOTES: Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle left with an undisclosed injury during the second period and did not return. He is still being evaluated. … Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski and forward Matt Boldy were out with lower-body injuries. Minnesota dressed only 19 skaters. … The Wild’s two short-handed goals 25 seconds apart is the second-fastest in franchise history (April 8: Ryan Hartman & Sam Steel, 0:20). Minnesota matched a franchise-high with five special teams goals. … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin played his 744th career game, surpassing Nick Schultz (743) for sole possession of third place on the franchise’s all-time list.