Zach Parise scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period, and Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Marcus Foligno and Brad Hunt also scored goals for Minnesota, which snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight games. Mikko Koivu added two assists.
Devan Dubnyk finished with 30 saves for the Wild, notching his first win in six starts this season.
Phillip Danault scored two goals and Tomas Tatar added one for Montreal, which was playing the second half of a back-to-back that started with a 5-2 victory at St. Louis on Saturday. Keith Kinkaid made 29 saves.
Minnesota, playing for the first time since a 4-0 loss at Montreal on Thursday night that was followed by a players-only meeting, dominated the first period while taking a 1-0 lead. The Wild outshot the Canadiens 19-7 in the opening 20 minutes.
Zucker put Minnesota in front with a power-play goal, deflecting Koivu's blast from the right circle past Kinkaid's stick side for his third goal of the season.
The Canadiens took a 2-1 lead early in the second period with a pair of goals just 16 seconds apart. Tatar got the first on the power play when he put in a rebound of a Jeff Petry shot into an open left side of the net for his third goal of the season.
Danault then scooped up a rebound of a blocked pass near the left post and then banked in a shot off of Dubnyk's right skate.
Minnesota tied the score with 15 seconds to go in the period on Foligno's first goal of the season. Eric Staal fired a shot from near the left boards. The puck hit the skate of Luke Kunin to the side of the net and then caromed to an unguarded Foligno, who fired the puck into a wide-open right side of the net.
Danault put Montreal back ahead, 3-2, with his fourth goal of the season early in the third period. Brendan Gallagher's shot from the right circle bounced off Dubnyk's blocker and into the skate of Danault, who was driving toward the net. The puck then slid into the net.
The Wild tied it midway through the final period when Hunt one-timed a Matt Dumba cross-ice pass to the top of the right circle off the far post for his third goal of the season.
Parise then produced the game-winner four minutes later when he took Zucker's pass through traffic and drove it under the crossbar from below the left circle.
--Field Level Media
Montreal | Minnesota | |
Phillip Danault 2 | Points | Jason Zucker 2 |
Phillip Danault 2 | Goals | Jason Zucker 1 |
Paul Byron 1 | Assists | Mikko Koivu 2 |
Tomas Tatar 1 | Power Play Goals | Jason Zucker 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Keith Kinkaid .879 | Save Percentage | Devan Dubnyk .909 |
Keith Kinkaid 29 | Saves | Devan Dubnyk 30 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Montreal | 33 | 3 | 1-2 | 3-5 | 10 | 30 |
Minnesota | 33 | 4 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 4 | 34 |