Wild penalty killers turn tables on Canadiens in 5-2 victory

MONTREAL — The Wild had one less player, but manpower was more of an issue for the Montreal Canadiens.

They were punished on the power play and penalty kill, with the Wild going on a special-teams tear in a 5-2 victory Tuesday night at Bell Centre that glossed over their shorthanded lineup.

"The guys were very dialed in on the bench," coach Dean Evason said, "and communication was good."

Kirill Kaprizov scored his first goal of the season and picked up two assists, while Mats Zuccarello had three helpers and Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice in front of a 27-save effort by Marc-Andre Fleury in his season debut.

At 545 victories, Fleury is seven away from surpassing Patrick Roy as the second-winningest goaltender in NHL history.

After what could end up as his last NHL game in his native Quebec, Fleury was crowned first star and cheered by the crowd, which included family and friends.

"I just wanted to take a mental picture," Fleury said. "Such a nice feeling. Didn't want to stay out there too long. I don't want to say they think it's my last game here, and I come back again next year. That's enough attention. It's very flattering."

Earlier in the night, it was the Wild's penalty killers in the spotlight.

With Ryan Hartman in the box for tripping, Brandon Duhaime capitalized for the second time in as many games, flinging in a puck off the rush 9 minutes, 20 seconds into the first period.

On the next shift, Connor Dewar got a piece of a Duhaime rebound before a Montreal defender inadvertently put the puck behind goalie Sam Montembeault only 25 seconds after Duhaime scored.

These were the Wild's first shorthanded goals of the season and the second-fastest pair in franchise history, behind the two Hartman and Sam Steel tallied 20 seconds apart last season.

"It's a total momentum crusher for your team when you get scored on shorthanded," Dewar said.

Times that by two, and the Canadiens never recovered.

How could they when they went on to surrender three power-play goals (in eight opportunities) and their own power play whiffed on five chances?

After Eriksson Ek stuffed in his own rebound as the power play screen only 2:17 into the second period, Montreal responded at 9:47 on a Tanner Pearson wrister, but then penalty trouble foiled the Canadiens' rally.

Kaprizov one-timed a Zuccarello cross-slot feed with 2:38 to go in the second before Eriksson Ek jammed in a puck 5:20 into the third.

"Usually it's longer every year," Kaprizov said of scoring his first goal. "This year, three games. Feel better a little bit. I tried not [to] think about this too much, just try and focus on the team game."

Eriksson Ek's three goals lead the Wild, and all have come on the power play. Montembeault finished with 30 saves.

"I'm just trying to read off the guys up top, and they're doing a great job finding passes, finding those small passes to the guy in the slot or in front," Eriksson Ek said. "So, yeah, it's been good."

Even Fleury was helping out the power play, stacking his pads to keep out a shorthanded try from Montreal early in the third period — this after he deployed one of his trademark windmill stops on a PK late in the second.

"A couple smiles in the game," he said. "Good times."

The only other puck that eluded Fleury was a windup from Alex Newhook with 2:25 remaining, but this was an improvement off the 7-4 blip in Toronto at the start of the road trip — especially considering the Wild (2-1) were missing captain Jared Spurgeon, Matt Boldy and Alex Goligoski because of injury and didn't have enough cap space to recall a replacement from the minors. They dressed 11 forwards and six defensemen.

"Everybody contributed," Fleury said. "Everybody played a lot. We were consistent throughout the game. I thought we played good for 60 minutes, and it's a big reason why we won this game."