Montreal Canadiens Lose 4-3 Against Minnesota Wild
By Emmanuel D
The Montreal Canadiens went into Minnesota looking to extend their winning streak to three games but fatigue and a lack of discipline got the best of them in a 4-2 loss to the Wild. Keith Kinkaid also got his second start of the season.
First Period
The Montreal Canadiens came firing out of the gate in the first period, in hopes of picking up an early lead. A few minutes in, Cale Fleury made his presence known after missing the last game against the St. Louis Blues by sticking handling deep into the offensive zone for a scoring chance but could finish.
The Minnesota Wild received their first powerplay, a 4-minute double minor due to a high sticking by Artturi Lehkonen on Wild forward Ryan Hartman. With the Montreal Canadiens penalty killing improving in the past few games, the hope was they can keep the score even but it did not take long for Jason Zucker to make it 1-0 for the Wild.
Keith Kinkaid and the Habs were able to hold off the Wild for the remainder of the Wild powerplay.
The remainder of the period was uneventful for the Montreal Canadiens. If it weren’t for Keith Kinkaid, the score would have been much higher for the Wild as the Habs were struggling to generate scoring chances in the second night of a back to back.
With less than two minutes in, Kinkaid saved the Canadiens from a 2-0 deficit before going on the penalty kill. The shots were 19-7 in Minnesota’s favour at the end of the first period.
Second Period
The second period started with the Montreal Canadiens getting their first powerplay of the night. The Habs had several good entries into the offensive zone in the first minute and afterwards capitalized on a fluid sequence of passes allowing for Tomas Tatar to score and tie up the game for the Habs at 1-1.
The Canadiens quickly built on their first goal when Philip Danault scored 16 seconds after Tatar giving the team a 2-1 lead. At 11:43, Keith Kinkaid made a highlight reel save so good that it got a smile out of Carey Price. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that save on the weekly highlights.
With little to no time remaining in the second period and a depleted Habs team trying to close it out, the Wild scored and tied up the game at 2-2 with a goal by Marcus Foligno.
Third Period
The Montreal Canadiens quickly took back the lead at the start of the third period with Philip Danault’s second goal of the night giving the Habs a 3-2 lead. Brendan Gallagher recorded his 300th career point with the assist on Danault’s goal.
Paul Byron later received a questionable penalty leading to a Wild powerplay and goal by Matt Dumba leading to 3-3 score.
The Habs also received a powerplay immediately after the Wild goal but did not capitalize. The Wild then took a 4-3 lead at the 7:00 mark with a goal by Zach Parise.
The Habs rallied one last time to take back the lead by pulling Keith Kinkaid for the extra attacker but the Minnesota Wild stood tall to get the win.
Looking Ahead
Aside from the Paul Byron penalty, staying out of the bench and staying disciplined should be a priority as well as continuing work on the penalty since although it looked better in recent games, there is still work to be done.
The Montreal Canadiens next game will be on October 24th when they host the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre at 7:00 PM EST.