The Montreal Canadiens conceded five goals in a row and finally lost 8-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night, closing their longest trip of the season.
Posted at 10:57 p.m.
Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick – back in Minnesota 12 days after being claimed off waivers by the Montrealers – rocked the ropes for the Canadiens (8-26-7), who completed their seven-game journey with a 1-0 record -3-3.
Jared Spurgeon, Marcus Foligno, Connor Dewar, Nico Sturm, Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy, Jordie Benn – yes, the ex-CH defender – and Kevin Fiala found the back of the net for the Wild (25-10-3) , who savored a third victory in a row. Star player Kirill Kaprizov also stood out with two assists.
Cayden Primeau made his second straight start without Samuel Montembeault, who is suffering from a minor upper body injury. Primeau offered a correct performance, nothing more, and finished the game with 27 saves on 32 shots. Michael McNiven replaced him in the third period and completed the game.
His counterpart, Cam Talbot, meanwhile, was back in goal for the Wild after missing six games with a lower-body injury sustained during the Winter Classic on 1er January. Talbot also gave way to his auxiliary Kaapo Kahkonen at the start of the third period after making 14 saves, and the Finn finished the game in net for the Wild, fourth in the Central Section.
Things had started well for the men of head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Hoffman opened the scoring just 83 seconds into the first period, accepting a bouncing pass from Laurent Dauphin and unleashing a powerful one-timer that beat Talbot under the mitt.
The Habs’ lead was short-lived, however, as the Wild scored five unanswered goals – courtesy of Spurgeon and Foligno in the first period, then Dewar, Sturm and Zuccarello in the second – to take a 5-1 lead.
Pitlick, for the Canadian, as well as Boldy, Benn and Fiala, for the Wild, completed the scoring by blackening the score sheet in the third period.
The CH, visibly frustrated, concluded the game by triggering a few skirmishes, without any real consequence.
It should be noted that Canadian forward Christian Dvorak received a blow to the head from Spurgeon and left the game in the first period. The severity of the injury and his condition are unknown at this time. Spurgeon was not punished on the streak.
Ducharme had decided to go with the same roster as in Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. There has therefore been no change in the Montreal workforce.
Ducharme also said Cole Caufield and Joel Armia, who are under the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, have returned to training in Madison, Wis. They will not be able to return to Montreal for five days, due to the health rules in force at the Canada-US border.
Finally, the news seems quite encouraging about Montembeault. He jumped on the ice at the Xcel Energy Center with his equipment after the morning warm-up session, accompanied by goalkeeper coach Éric Raymond.
The Canadiens will return to the fold on Tuesday, in anticipation of Thursday night’s game at the Bell Center against the Anaheim Ducks. It should be noted that the next three CH home games will take place behind closed doors, in accordance with Quebec public health guidelines.