By Canadian Press

Kaprizov scores two, Minnesota beats Montreal 4-1

Nov 1, 2022 | 8:57 PM

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and Mason Shaw scored his second career goal in as many games, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves for Minnesota, which has earned points in six of its last seven games. The Wild have five wins in that stretch after losing the first three games of the season. Matt Boldy added an empty-net goal.

Kaprizov’s second multi-goal game of the season gives him eight for the season. He has scored four times in the last four games. Joel Eriksson Ek had a pair of assists for the Wild.

Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal in the third period and Jake Allen stopped 27 shots for Montreal, which had won two straight to start a four-game trip.

The Canadiens applied plenty of pressure early, outshooting Minnesota 15-7 in the first period. But, Montreal couldn’t beat Fleury, who has settled in after a shaky start to the season. 

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Fleury has allowed seven goals in winning four straight starts. He surrendered 11 in the season’s first two games.

After a scoreless first period, Shaw scored 1:09 into the second. Allen couldn’t control the rebound on a shot by Eriksson Ek and Shaw tapped the rebound between Allen’s legs.

Shaw, a 23-year-old rookie, has been given a chance due to injuries to forwards Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman. 

Forward Brandon Duhaime left the game in the second with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. All are considered upper-body injuries.

Minnesota scored twice more in the second. 

On the power play, Kaprizov stood in front of the net and deflected a pass from the side from Erikkson Ek over Allen. Kaprizov’s second goal came on a 2-on-1 break with rookie forward Marco Rossi.

Kaprizov’s pass across was deflected by the stick of a sliding David Savard into the air. Rossi knocked the puck down to Kaprizov, who quickly sent the puck past Allen. It was Rossi’s first NHL point in his 11th career game.

Montreal challenged the play for a high stick, but officials ruled that Rossi had played the puck legally.

The Wild have won 14 of the last 15 games against the Canadiens, including nine straight at the Xcel Energy Center.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Play at Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Wild: Host Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Brian Hall, The Associated Press