Wild at Canadiens
A pair of teams attempting to break out of scoring ruts square off Saturday when the Montreal Canadiens host the Minnesota Wild. The Canadiens needed a shootout to snap a three-game winless drought at league-worst Buffalo on Wednesday and have managed only six goals in their last six contests (2-3-1). "Two points is huge right now," backup netminder Dustin Tokarski said of the win at Buffalo. "Any time you can win on the road and have a nice flight home, it's good."
The Wild were humming offensively with 22 goals in a five-game span, but they have managed just one tally in back-to-back defeats versus Pittsburgh and Ottawa. Leading scorer Zach Parise is sidelined with a concussion and will be unavailable for the three-game road trip that kicked off with Thursday's 3-0 loss to the Senators. "All I know is he is out for this trip, and what I would say is we probably have to get back and talk to the doctors and see from there," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North Plus (Minnesota), TVA, City (Montreal)
ABOUT THE WILD (7-5-0): With Parise on the shelf and no timetable for his return, Thomas Vanek was elevated to the No. 1 line versus Ottawa and responded by tying his season high with seven shots. Vanek was acquired by Montreal at the trade deadline last season and had six goals and 15 points in 18 contests before notching a pair of two-goal games in the playoffs. “I’m still trying to find my niche here,” said Vanek, who has one goal and seven assists with Minnesota. “I feel like I’m creating good chances for my teammates, but for myself, I don’t think I've shot the puck enough or created enough on my own.”
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (9-4-1): Montreal is among the league stingiest teams and among the reasons is veteran defenseman Tom Gilbert, who is in his first season with the Canadiens. Gilbert leads Montreal's blue-liners with a plus-4 rating and has blocked a team-high 32 shots while logging some meaningful minutes. "He’s got such great poise back there. He’s able to make some great sound plays on a consistent basis," said teammate Mike Weaver, who played with Gilbert in Florida last season. “It’s also amazing to see somebody that’s able to do so well on both the power play and fill a big role on the penalty kill."
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens G Carey Price has dropped three straight starts, permitting five goals in each of his past two.
2. Minnesota has outshot all 12 of its opponents, including 35-17 at Ottawa on Thursday.
3. Montreal has failed to convert on 18 straight power plays over the past eight games and is ranked 28th in the league, one slot above Minnesota.