Minnesota Wild: Chase Niemi from Montreal net in dominant 7-1 win
By Luke Ryan
The Minnesota Wild chased the opposing netminder, Antti Niemi in a dominant 7-1 winning display against the Montreal Canadiens in St. Paul.
Just a few nights after seeing Devan Dubnyk replaced in net by backup tender, Alex Stalock as a result of a seven-goal rout at the hands of Edmonton; the Minnesota Wild turned the tables on Montreal, showing up big-time with a display unlike any Wild performance we’ve seen lately.
The damage had already been done by the time the Montreal Canadiens finally decided to pull Antti Niemi out, with seven goals going past him on 24 shots; ending the night with a brutal 0.708 save percentage. Carey Price, in relief, saved 9 out of 9 shots but the damage had already been done by that point.
Mikael Granlund provided three assists on the night, with Zach Parise netting a goal and a pair of assists. Matt Dumba’s pair of power-play goals put him very much on-track to top his previous goal totals for a season, heck he might even manage a thirty-goal season at this current pace!
The key difference between the two teams in this game was the power-play; the Minnesota Wild power-play scored on all four opportunities. A clean game by the Wild meant that Montreal only grabbed the one opportunity and on that one, they were scored on too – Charlie Coyle and Marcus Foligno combining to give Coyle a short-handed marker.
As the score climbed, so did the physical intensity of the game with Nick Seeler and Nicolas Deslauriers sent to the penalty box for fighting, among some of the penalties given out. Max Domi, J.T. Brown and Andrew Shaw all saw 10-minute misconduct penalties in the third too.
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Perhaps the only negative to the result was that the Minnesota Wild couldn’t hold on defensively to give Dubnyk a shut-out. One goal on thirty shots though is exactly the sort of confidence boost that he needed either way!
Safe to say, the Minnesota Wild look to have turned a corner if they can maintain this sort of form. However, the truest test comes when they face elite competition and not the rather less than elite roster currently being rolled by the Canadiens.
The Florida Panthers on Thursday should certainly provide slightly stiffer competition, with another encounter with the Calgary Flames on the horizon too.
Next. Four unanswered second period goals versus Canadiens. dark
You’d have to hope that their goalies can be chased too – that’d be the ideal result for the Wild!