Wild finds successful style. 'We just misplaced it a bit, right?' Dean Evason says

KANATA, Ontario — The Wild are starting to distance themselves from their early-season woes.

They've won two of their past three games to earn five of a possible six points and bring momentum with them into Thursday's clash with the surging Senators, who are on a 4-0 run and undefeated at home.

But what really validates the strides the team has made is the Wild finally executed a style worth sticking to, the 3-1 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday looking like a blueprint for the rest of this five-game road trip and beyond.

"We know that's how we play," coach Dean Evason said. "We just misplaced it a bit, right? That's how we're going to have success. That's who we are.

"That's who the Minnesota Wild are, and we have to continue to do that."

What made this latest effort by the team so different?

Well, for starters, security around the Wild's net tightened up.

Fleury posted 26 saves vs. Montreal, with 20 of those coming after the Canadiens recorded their first and only goal of the game. His most clutch stop was in the third period when he stymied a penalty shot from Mike Hoffman with his left pad.

"That one and so many others," center Frederick Gaudreau said. "It's just that's who he is. It's fun to play in front of a goalie like that. He brings that. He brings the joy every day in the room, and he's a Hall of Famer."

How the Wild performed in front of Fleury was also better.

Montreal's 27 shots were the second fewest against the Wild, and the Wild blocked another 21 — a season high after they got in front of 20 pucks last Saturday in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins.

Even in the third when the Canadiens upped the intensity, the Wild didn't crack under the pressure. Montreal took approximately 67% of the shots in the final 20 minutes but didn't convert. The Canadiens actually trailed the Wild in high danger scoring chances that period, according to Natural Stat Trick.

And because the Wild were much cleaner in their own end, they didn't need to outscore their problems to have a chance at winning.

Joel Eriksson Ek got on the end of a Brandon Duhaime rebound, and Duhaime finished off a breakaway before an empty-netter from Eriksson Ek — an economical but not inefficient showing by the offense.

"Part of playing good defense is if we can hold the puck in the offensive zone," Gaudreau said, "and we worked on that and we talked about that, and I think we did a good job."

A low-scoring chess match wasn't typical last season: Only around a third of those victories came when the Wild tallied three goals or fewer, but this isn't the same team.

That fact is reinforced by the line juggling that's gone on to discover chemistry with Kevin Fiala traded, Jordan Greenway injured and new faces like rookie Marco Rossi in the lineup.

Maybe this is that alternative.

"It felt like we had our swagger back," Middleton said. "Those are the type of games we're gonna win: 2-1, grind it out like that for a whole third period. It was just nice to get that feeling."