Niederreiter scores twice as Wild blast Habs
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Devan Dubnyk made 20 saves and Nino Niederreiter scored twice for the Minnesota Wild in a 7-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Minnesota, which won for the 15th time in 17 games, got a goal and two assists from Eric Staal. Christian Folin, Jordan Schroeder, Jason Zucker and Ryan Suter also scored for the Wild (26-9-5). Matt Dumba registered three assists, and Jared Spurgeon added two assists.
Dubnyk missed a chance for his league-leading sixth shutout when Montreal's Tomas Plekanec scored with 8.5 seconds left in the game.
The anticipated matchup expected between Dubnyk and Montreal goaltender Carey Price never materialized. Dubnyk held up his end in the matchup of two of the top netminders in the league, but Price allowed seven goals for the first time since March 2, 2013, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Price, who gave up three goals when the teams met in December, made 17 saves Thursday.
Minnesota scored three times in the second, including the ninth time this season scoring multiple goals less than a minute apart, and three times in the third.
Folin scored his first goal of the season just 2:34 into the first period. He passed to Staal in the corner and then went to the net, got the puck back and backhanded the puck past Price.
Early in the second period, Charlie Coyle corralled the puck at the boards at center ice and sent Staal in for a mini-breakaway. Staal's quick release beat Price at 6:35. Staal has eight goals and 12 assists in 14 games since Dec. 11, recording at least one point in each of those games.
Just 39 seconds later, Schroeder managed to deflect a shot from Spurgeon while falling to the ice after being pushed by Montreal defenseman Zach Redmond.
Niederreiter finished the scoring in the period when he was alone in front of Price. Niederreiter collected himself, spun to face Price and shot the puck with his forehand at 17:58.
Zucker scored his 10th goal of the season with a well-timed deflection as he skated across the crease on a pass by Spurgeon at 3:31 of the third. Suter added his sixth goal with a big slap shot at 6:06, and Niederreiter scored his second of the game and 11th of the season at 14:26.
NOTES: Montreal scratched LW Nikita Scherbak, RW Bobby Farnham and D Ryan Johnston. The team is still without C Alex Galchenyuk (knee), C Andrew Shaw (concussion) and D Andrei Markov (lower body), but the Montreal Gazette reported the three are hopeful to return Saturday against the Rangers. ... Minnesota scratched D Nate Prosser and F Kurtis Gabriel. ... Minnesota entered play fourth in the league in scoring at 3.13 goals per game, and the Canadiens were fifth at 3.12. The Wild were second in fewest goals allowed (2.13 per game), and Montreal was fifth (2.38). .... The Canadiens return home for a game Saturday against the New York Rangers before going back on the road. Minnesota heads back on the road for a Saturday matchup against the Dallas Stars.