The Montreal Canadiens have a chance to sweep their season series with the Minnesota Wild on Monday night when they take on Kirill Kaprizov and company.
The Montreal Canadiens finished January with a bang, winning their last three games against fantastic opposition, but they’ll have to work hard to keep that streak going on Monday night. In their second-to-last game before the Olympics break, Martin St-Louis’ men will take on the Minnesota Wild, who are currently fourth in the NHL.
Not that they need extra motivation, but the game will be an opportunity for Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson to show the Wild and Team USA GM Bill Guerin what he passed on when he decided not to include them on the American team’s roster for the upcoming Olympics. Since the snub, Caufield has 18 points (including 13 goals) in 16 games, and Hutson has the same point total, including four goals, since then.
Monday night’s tilt will be the second and last game between the two sides this season; the Canadiens won the first duel 4-3 on January 20, but that’s the only time the Habs have beaten the Wild in their last 10 matchups. You have to go back to October 2019 to find Montreal’s last win in the state of hockey. Both teams have a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games and have won their last three matches.
The starting netminders have yet to be confirmed, but the Wild have been enjoying some of the best goaltending in the league this season. Their goaltenders are top 13 in save percentage amongst goalies who have played over 15 games and in the top 26 in goals-against average amongst goalies who have played over 15 games. Jesper Wallstedt was in the net for their last game, but he was also on duty when the Canadiens beat the Wild last month. That was his only game against the Tricolore, meaning he has a 0-1-0 record with a 4.07 GAA and a .879 SV against Montreal. Meanwhile, Filip Gustavsson has a 2-2-1 record against the Canadiens with a 2.93 GAA and a .899 SV.
As for the Sainte-Flanelle, it’s hard to imagine how St-Louis could decide to go back to Samuel Montembeault when Jakub Dobes has won eight of his last nine starts, including the Canadiens’ last three games. The Czech netminder has a 1-1-0 record against the Wild with a 3.10 GAA and a .870 SV. As for Montembeault, he’s 1-2-1 against the host with a 3.23 GAA and a .885 SV.
Up front, the Wild’s most productive players against the Canadiens are Marcus Johansson (24 points in 33 games), Quinn Hughes (22 points in 20 games), and Vladimir Tarasenko (17 points in 26 games), who scored twice in the Wild's 4-3 loss to the Habs in January. However, star forward Kirill Kaprizov has 15 points in just eight duels with the Habs and had a pair of assists in the last duel, just like Mats Zuccarello.
Meanwhile, Phillip Danault (10 points in 24 games) and Samuel Blais (10 points in 16 games) are the only Canadiens players who have reached double digits against Minnesota. The latter has not played a single game since January 15, and all signs point to him being a healthy scratch again on Monday night. Brendan Gallagher, who will play in his 890th game as a Hab on Monday, the 14th most in history, tied with Doug Harvey, has eight points in 19 games. Hutson and Ivan Demidov both had two points against the Wild in January.
The game is set for 7:30 PM, and you can catch it on FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Prime, and RDS. Chris Schlenker and Gord Dwyer are set to be the referees, while Brandon Gawryletz and Travis Toomey will be the linemen. After the game, the Canadiens will spend the night in Minnesota and practice there on Tuesday before heading to Manitoba for a duel with the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
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