The Minnesota Wild beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in the Bell Centre, improving their road record under interim coach John Torchetti to 6-2 and leapfrogging the Colorado Avalanche, who lost 3-2 in Winnipeg to the Jets.
“They had them continuously rolling,” Dubnyk told the Pioneer Press, talking about the league-wide scores on the jumbotron that he could see from the crease. “I maybe saw it once… or eight times.”
Nino Niederreiter scored the first goal on a fluky play where Montreal goalie and former Wild farmhand Mike Condon was well out of his crease and coughed up the puck at the blueline.
“I was a little surprised I got that puck from him,” Niederreiter told the Star Tribune.
Mark Barberio tied it up 1-1 a minute later, but Mikael Granlund scored his first of two goals to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room after the first period.
Granlund’s second tally came at 11:49 in the second period, a powerplay goal that marked his 10th of the season and first multi-goal game of his career.
“Granny’s just got to start shooting the puck some more,” Torchetti told the Star Tribune. “He is a great shooter.”
Erik Haula’s empty-netter sealed it in the third, and now Minnesota once again controls their playoff destiny.
“It’s a bit early for that,” Torchetti told the Pioneer Press when asked about scoreboard watching. “But if that gets him fired up, keep doing it.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press]
