Kaprizov scores twice to propel Wild past Canadiens
Shaw, Boldy also find net for Minnesota; Suzuki replies for visiting Montreal
Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and Mason Shaw scored his second career goal in as many games, leading the visiting Minnesota Wild to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves for Minnesota, which has earned points in six of its last seven games. The Wild have five wins in that stretch after losing the first three games of the season. Matt Boldy added an empty-net goal as Minnesota returned home after a five-game trip.
"We've got to win those games," Fleury said. "It doesn't matter how long we've been gone. They've been on the road for a while too. We've got to find a way to dig deep. I think the start was important to be in the game and not be chasing after them. I think it paid off."
Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal in the third period and Jake Allen stopped 27 shots for Montreal, which had won two straight to start a four-game trip.
"I think we trust in the brand that we're trying to play," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. " ... We're going to generate chances and it showed in the past that we're able to crawl back in games, and tonight we just fell short. That's one thing I don't like about tonight's game is the result, because there was a lot of good things in this game."
WATCH l Minnesota downs Montreal behind Kaprizov's pair:
The Canadiens applied plenty of pressure early, outshooting Minnesota 15-7 in the first period. But, Montreal couldn't beat Fleury, who has settled in after a shaky start to the season.
Fleury has allowed seven goals in winning four straight starts. He surrendered 11 in the season's first two games.
After a scoreless first period, Shaw scored 1:09 into the second. Allen couldn't control the rebound on a shot by Eriksson Ek and Shaw tapped the rebound between Allen's legs.
Minnesota and Kaprizov added two more goals in the second. Kaprizov's first goal was a deflection on a centring pass from Boldy on the power play.
"That's not his spot on the power play, but he knows that's a pretty good spot to go score a goal," Wild coach Dean Evason said of Kaprizov being in front of the net.
The Wild have won 14 of the last 15 games against the Canadiens, including nine straight at the Xcel Energy Center.
"We were confident with our first two periods," Suzuki said. "I felt like we outplayed for the whole game almost. Tough result for us, but I think the process is still really good."
