MONTREAL (AP) — Joel Eriksson Ek had two goals and Brandon Duhaime scored the tiebreaker in the second period and added an assist, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Eriksson Ek scored in the first period and added an empty-netter with 30 seconds left in the third. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 26 saves for the Wild.
Cole Caufield scored his fifth goal of the season for Montreal. Jake Allen had 28 saves on 30 shots.
During a 3-on-1 rush Duhaime’s shot bounced off Allen and the rebound went off the boards to the side of the net. Eriksson Ek was there to push the puck behind Allen six minutes into the first period.
Caufield’s shot from the right side was inside the near post just over a minute into the second, tying the game.
But the Wild moved ahead when Duhaime took a pass from Frederick Gaudreau and beat Allen, scoring the go-ahead goal at 12:48.
The goal gave Duhaime a score in consecutive games for the first time in his career after the 25-year-old scored on Saturday at Boston.
Mike Hoffman was awarded a penalty shot about six minutes into the third period and the shot was blocked by Fleury.
NOTES
Fleury played in his 944th game, moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list for games by a goaltender. … Each team took two penalties apiece and both power plays finished 0 for 3.
UP NEXT
Wild: At Ottawa on Thursday night in the third of a five-game trip.
Canadiens: At Buffalo on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game trip.
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