Canadiens unable to win in Minnesota

Minnesota is the new San Jose.

The Canadiens haven’t won a game there since 2011. Did Martin St-Louis’ troupe put an end to this bad run tonight?

Here’s the Habs lineup:

Tonight’s lineup

Tonight’s lineup#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/MvYY7FdrsH

– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) December 22, 2023

And the locals’:

#mnwild lines minus injured Spurgeon, Brodin, Hartman and Zuccarello

Kaprizov-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Foligno-Rossi-Lucchini
Johansson-Gaudreau-Maroon
Duhaime-Dewar-Lettieri

Middeton-Faber
Goligoski-Bogosian
Merrill-Mermis

Daemon Hunt lone healthy scratch

– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 22, 2023

Emil Heineman, playing his first NHL game, got his turn on the ice alone.

Welcome to the NHL!

The Wild retreated to the dressing room ahead by two goals.

First, on the power play, Matthew Boldy was left all alone in the slot.

Marco Rossi then doubled his team’s lead with a low shot.

Martin St-Louis challenged the goal, claiming it was offside, but was unsuccessful.

RIGHT ON ROSSI QUE#mnwild pic.twitter.com/H0kyxMwML5

– Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 22, 2023

Montreal showed character in the second period. First, David Savard took advantage of a nice play by Cole Caufield to score his second of the season.

Kaiden Guhle set the tone with a check on Kirill Kaprizov.

He then had to settle the score with Rossi.

Big hit by Guhle, Rossi jumps in. They go at it. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/gzrMt6navC

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 22, 2023

Late in the period, Justin Barron was dangerously pushed into the boards.

He retreated to the dressing room.

Fortunately, he came back in the third period.

Good news, then. We didn’t want another injury.

The Habs found a way to make the Wild pay for their indiscipline. By taking a return throw from Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki brought both teams back to square one.

Joel Armia opened the door for the bad guys a few moments later, however.

He put too much on Marcus Johansson. The result: Brock Faber took advantage of the power play to put the home team back in front.

But as had been the case all game, the visitors didn’t give up. With just over three minutes left in the game, Juraj Slafkovsky scored a lucky goal.

Savard and Mike Matheson also picked up their second points of the game.

Both teams seemed headed for the shootout, but Kaprizov made himself scarce in front of the net to give his team the win.

KAPRIZOV WINS IT FOR THE WILD pic.twitter.com/ZmZYxxvif6

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 22, 2023

Final score: 3-2 Minnesota.

Martin St-Louis’ troupe returns to action tomorrow in Chicago. This will be the team’s last game before the break.

Extensions

– That’s pretty good.

– Defensemen dominate.

– He impressed me today.