Canadiens 8, Wild 1
All-Star defenseman P.K. Subban collected his first career hat trick and Benoit Pouliot burned his former team with three assists as the Montreal Canadiens breezed to an 8-1 road triumph over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
Ryan White netted his first career NHL goal and Andrei Kostitsyn, Travis Moen, Tom Pyatt and defenseman James Wisniewski also tallied for Montreal (40-26-7), which pulled to within one point of the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins (39-22-10).
Making his first start since Feb. 26, Alex Auld turned aside 30 shots to improve to 6-2-1 on the season. Auld saw his bid for a shutout come to an end when captain Mikko Koivu scored on a penalty shot with 7:46 remaining in the third period.
Prior to scoring in Friday's 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers, Subban had failed to tally in his previous 16 contests. Pouliot saw to it that Subban's drought ceased when he set up the defenseman just 51 seconds into the second period for his third assist of the night.
Wisniewski and Moen scored just over two minutes apart later in the session to chase former Canadiens netminder Jose Theodore, who permitted five goals on 19 shots.
Subban and Montreal did not let up as the blue-liner converted on the power play with 3:37 remaining in the second period. He then capped the hat trick and his four-point night with his 11th goal of the season at 1:27 into the third period.
Niklas Backstrom finished with 10 saves for Minnesota (35-30-8), which has dropped six in a row.