MONTREAL -- The Minnesota Wild just keep rolling and on Thursday night, it allowed them to equal a franchise mark.

In a tight battle between two of the NHL's top goaltenders, Eric Staal scored a short-handed goal early in the third to lift the Wild to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

It's the Wild's ninth straight win, matching a franchise mark set back in March 2009.

"Tying is like kissing your sister," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. Getting (the record) is the nice thing. Our job's not done and we're going to try our butts off tomorrow."

Carey Price stopped 23 shots for Montreal (21-8-4) while Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves for the Wild (20-8-4).

Jordan Schroeder, Jared Spurgeon and Jason Zucker (empty net) also connected for Minnesota.

Max Pacioretty and Artturi Lehkonen scored for the Canadiens.

Pacioretty opened the scoring at 2:01 of the second period. After Spurgeon fell down, the Canadiens captain used his speed to catch up to the loose puck and skated up the right side before firing a wrister from the top of the circle.

It was the first short-handed goal the Wild has given up this season and marked the first time since Dec. 9 that Minnesota faced a deficit, a span of six games.

"Any time you're trailing against Montreal, you never think Price is going to let one in so when we got them, it was great," Boudreau said. "But at this stage, we've got a never quit, don't quit, never-say-die attitude, whoever's in or out of the line-up. It showed again tonight."

Schroeder tied it just over six minutes later when he intercepted Price's clearing attempt along the boards and skated around the back of the net before tucking the puck in short side.

Lehkonen's seventh of the season restored Montreal's lead at 10:35. Dubnyk made the save on a Brian Flynn chance from the high slot but left a rebound to his left, and Lehkonen was there to lift a backhander over the Wild goaltender.

Spurgeon finished off some quick puck movement by Minnesota to even the score, 2-2. Several teammates had touches before Jason Zucker found Spurgeon in the right circle for his second of the season at 15:43.

Staal gave the Wild its first lead of the night with a short-handed tally at 3:08 of the third period. The veteran pivot beat out Nathan Beaulieu to a Granlund clearing attempt and surprised Price when he wired a wrist shot from the left circle. The goal, his 11th of the season, tied him with Charlie Coyle for the team lead.

"I kind of expected him to hold onto it and take it to the hoop," Price said. "He's been in this league for a long time. He's crafty like that."

The Canadiens had their chances to tie it with a couple of power plays after Staal's tally -- including one with fewer than five minutes remaining -- but could only manage five shots with the advantage on four power play opportunities.

"We had a couple of power plays late there and we've got to find ways to score," Brendan Gallagher said. "Take the season as whole, I think the power play's done a good job of being clutch, but tonight certainly we had some chances there to tie the game late, gave up a shorthanded goal. It's something that us guys on the power play, we want to be better."

Zucker capped the scoring at 19:37 into an empty net.

"They've got a good team and we've got a good team, too," Staal said. "You know that as a player coming in, if we play a good game, we're capable, and it was. It was tight, there wasn't a lot of room, you had to fight for every inch and we found a way on the road, in a tough building to get two points. It's a big win for us."

NOTES: Montreal D Alexei Emelin missed the game to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple's third child earlier in the day. ... The Canadiens called up D Joel Hanley on emergency recall from the AHL's St. John's IceCaps to replace him in the lineup. ... Montreal also assigned RW Sven Andrighetto to the AHL. ... Minnesota LW Zach Parise missed the game due to an illness while C Erik Haula missed a second game with a lower-body injury. ... Wild D Nate Prosser was a healthy scratch. ... C Jordan Schroeder, called up from the AHL's Iowa Wild to replace Parise, suited up for the big club for the first time since Nov. 5. ... Wild D Jared Spurgeon appeared in his 400th NHL game.