Minnesota Wild Drop 3rd Straight, Montreal Canadiens Win 4-1

 The Minnesota Wild lost their third straight game tonight as the Montreal Canadiens came away with a 4-1 victory.

The Minnesota Wild look nothing like the team that started out on fire to begin the season, falling to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Center in Montreal tonight. The Wild, who owned the best goal differential in the Western Conference just 1 week ago, have allowed 11 goals in their last three games while scoring just 2. As the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues all heat up, it may be time for concern in the State of Hockey.

Tonight, the Canadiens honored former Habs defenseman and Minnesota Wild director of amateur scouting Guy Lapointe by retiring his jersey number and raising it to the rafters to be immortalized with his teammates Serge Savard and Larry Robinson. Unfortunately, this may be the only highlight the Wild organization takes away from their trip in Quebec. Lets get to my notes:

First Period:

Montreal took the early advantage, forcing an icing in the first ten seconds and putting a quick shot on goal that Darcy Kuemper had to scramble for. From there, the Minnesota Wild seemed to have much of the advantage. The fourth line for the Wild opened up the offensive zone for some good chances by the Jason Pominville – Thomas Vanek – Mikael Granlund line. Vanek created a great play for Pominville in the 3rd minute, setting him up for a one-timer from the slot that hit Carey Price firmly in the bread basket.

Moving Kyle Brodziak up to center Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter has paid dividends in the offensive pressure department. It hasn’t led to goals yet, but the way they all play together, it will. Brodziak and Fontaine pressured the heck out of Price and had a few sure goals turned away by the incredible netminder.

I really felt like the Wild were playing incredibly well to open the game. After the 8th minute, the Wild took a firm advantage in shot attempts (shots, blocked shots, and missed shots) and Montreal never caught up. Much like we’ve seen with our beloved club, the Wild play very well when they play their game as designed.

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Mikko Koivu, our beloved Cap-Finn, took a holding penalty at 07:31 that sent the Canadiens to their power play. Montreal’s power play is only marginally better than the Wild, managing one shot on goal before taking a penalty themselves at 08:22. The Wild’s 4-on-4 group looked pretty good and the power play was what we’ve come to expect.

Brendan Gallagher took a hooking penalty at 15:25, which yielded two shots for the Wild. As the penalty expired; however, Brodziak picked the pocket of the freshly released Gallagher and set Niederreiter up for a sure goal that rang off the crossbar hard enough to make my teeth rattle in St. Paul. Niederreiter’s rifle of a shot hit the crossbar before Price could even get his glove above his elbow. I wish Nino would shoot a little more.

Price Was easily the difference maker through the first, as the Wild outchanced and outshot the Canadiens.

Shots after one period: Minnesota Wild 12, Montreal Canadiens 7

Second Period:

Kuemper, who had a good first period, played absolutely out of his mind to open the second. Denying doorstep chances left and right, I felt like he was the better goaltender through the first thirty minutes, despite facing fewer shots. There were some hairy defensive breakdowns by the Wild, including one that led to a Brandon Prust shot that would have been a goal if not for Ballard inadvertently knocking the net loose.

Montreal opened the scoring off a Mathew Dumba turnover in the Offensive zone. Gallagher and Tomas Plekanec made a two-on-two against Marco Scandella and Mikko Koivu look like a walk in the park, with Gallagher’s slap shot from the face-off circle beating Kuemper through his armpit to put the Canadiens on the board. 1-o Canadiens at 09:26 of the second. Dumba would get benched following the turnover and play only one shift the rest of the game. Tough night for the youngster.

The Minnesota Wild responded much in the way that we’ve seen, playing a finesse game with urgency, except this time it paid off.

Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville found their old chemistry in their new sweaters. Pominville made a beautiful play in the neutral zone to pick the pocket of Plekanec. Pominville fed the puck to Vanek who patiently waited for Pominville to slide in to the crease. From there, it was all Pominvlle, who tucked the puck home past Price’s outstretched pad to tie the game up. 1-1 Tie at 14:59 of the second. Pominville’s goal also ended a goalless streak of just over 100 minutes for the Wild.

The Wild seemed energized from the Pominville goal and certainly played like it for the ensuing couple minutes. Like I said earlier, The Wild completely dominated the shot attempts after the 8th minute of the first.

Montreal would retake the lead in the final minute of the second when Lars Eller put a wrister past a well screened Kuemper. 2-1 Canadiens at 19:10 of the second. Again, I think Price carried the Canadiens through the second. The Olympic Gold Medalist knows how to mind his net.

Shots After Two Periods: Minnesota Wild 21, Montreal Canadiens 17

Third Period:

It seemed like the Wild spent the first few minutes cycling endlessly in the offensive zone trying with desperation to put the tying goal past Price and stay alive.

The Habs would put the game away early in the third on a controversial Jiri Sekac goal. Brandon Prust, providing net front presence, would fall on top of Kuemper after a shot attempt, causing Kuemper to lose his rebound. Sekac found the puck in the blue paint and tapped it home. Referee and Go-Pro wearer Wes McCauley made his way to the scorers table for discussion. After review, it was determined that Niederreiter pushed Prust on to Kuemper, meaning the goal stood. Rough call for the Wild, who looked completely deflated after the goal. I’ve watched it a million times since and I’m still not convinced it was the right call, but that could be homerism. See for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments. 3-1 Montreal at 04:46 of the third.

The Wild continued to look deflated and the Canadiens capitalized to put the game completely out of reach with Max Pacioretty’s 6th of the year. It was one of the few goals that Ryan Suter seemed out of place for. 4-1 Canadiens at 06:04 of the third.

I really don’t have much else to say here. Stephane Veilleux tried to stick up for Erik Haula by roughing Nathan Beaulieu. Veilleux lost… thoroughly.

Montreal also caught up in the shot category, which is odd considering they had very few blcoked or missed shots and the Wild continued to pressure.

Final shots on goal: Minnesota Wild 31, Montreal Canadiens 31

Trembley’s Take:

The Wild are now 7-6-0, dangling dangerously above 500. The Wild have not lost 3 straight in regulation since December 19th-31st, 2013 when they lost 6 straight. It is worth noting that the Wild lost 5 in a row March 22nd-27th, 2014, but managed to garner OT points in two of them.

Once again, the Wild find themselves outplaying their opponent and losing by failing to finish. This is the first game where the Wild were tied in shots on goal, having outshot each of their previous opponents.

Despite posting sub-par numbers, I feel like Keumper had a good game. We can’t hold the kid accountable for defensive breakdowns in front of him.

According to our friends at Hockeystats.ca, the Minnesota Wild managed an absurd 70 shots attempts compared to a meager 45 for the Montreal Canadiens. Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle, and Keith Ballard were the only Wild players with a Corsi for percentage below 50.  Only three Montreal players had positive possession numbers. Again, the Wild lost. The numbers just don’t make sense.

This can’t continue. The Wild need to improve or they’ll implode just over 12% in to the season. It’s time for a change, I just don’t know what that change is. The Wild will practice at the U of M on Monday before taking on the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Talk to you then unless there’s news.