Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Montreal

The essentials

MONTREAL -- The Wild can secure a winning road trip on Monday night when it faces the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Following a pair of 4-3 wins in Toronto and in Ottawa to start the four-game swing, Minnesota will embark on the final two games in the span of 24 hours beginning Monday and finishing the following night against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
The Wild has won three of its past four games overall, including each of the past three games on the road.
Minnesota began the day Sunday two points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference with two games in hand on the Anaheim Ducks, who currently hold that spot.
Between the Wild and the Ducks is the Vancouver Canucks, who have one more point than Minnesota but have played five additional games.
Only the St. Louis Blues (39) has played fewer games in the West than the Wild, which will reach the official halfway point of its season following the game on Monday.

"I don't think it's pressure [to reach the playoffs], I think it's eagerness and the fact that they've done it before and they know they want to get there," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said of his players. "The older you are, you never know when you're going to get another chance. So I think that dedication part and toughness is going to will it out until the end."
Monday marks the final game of a three-game homestand for the Canadiens, who lost 4-1 to the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Like the Wild, the Canadiens are embarking on the first of back-to-back games; Montreal will be in Detroit on Tuesday to take on the Red Wings.
The Canadiens currently sit one point out of both wild card spots in the Eastern Conference and three points back of the Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Six points separate Montreal from the Carolina Hurricanes, who are 10th in the East.
Montreal is 5-2-0 in its past seven games overall dating back to Dec. 20.
Max Domi is having a career offensive year for the Canadiens. He leads the club with 38 points and is tied for second on the team with 14 goals, trailing only Brendan Gallagher, who has 15. Jonathan Drouin has 13 goals and 33 points while another newcomer, Tomas Tatar, has 14 goals and 31 points.
Goaltender Carey Price is 16-11-4 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage to lead Montreal in the crease.

Red-hot line

Since Dec. 29, the line of Charlie Coyle, Luke Kunin and Zach Parise have totaled 18 points (5-13=18) of the Wild's 36 combined points (13-23=36) in the last four games.
Kunin registered a career-high plus-3 rating and tallied two assists Saturday to set a career high four assists this season after recording two in 19 games last season.
Jordan Greenway netted his seventh goal of the season Saturday. He ranks T-9th amongst NHL rookies in goals and T-14th in scoring (13). He owns two points (1-1=2) in the last two games, tying his career-high two-game point streak for the second time, all this season.

Last man standing

Parise is the Wild's representative for the "Last Men In" ballot for the NHL All-Star Game later this month in San Jose. Fans can vote for Parise by visiting
NHL.com/vote
.
Parise recorded his second consecutive game-winning goal in Ottawa on Saturday and added two assists for his team-leading 10th multi-point game of the season. The 3-point effort was the 40th of his career and extended his point streak to five games (4-5=9), one shy of his season best.
The 34-year-old owns 38 points (19-19=38) in 39 games this season, including 15 points (6-9=15) in the last 12 games.
The winger leads the Wild in goals, ranks T-1st in scoring, plus/minus rating, PPG (6) and GWG (3), second in shots on goal and third in assists.

Series notes

All-Time Wild Record: 13-6-3 (8-2-1 at Xcel Energy Center, 5-4-2 at Montreal)
2018-19: The Wild earned a 7-1 victory in its first season meeting against the Canadiens at Xcel Energy Center (12/11)…RW Mikael Granlund (0-3=3) and LW Zach Parise (1-2=3) each led Minnesota with three points…C Charlie Coyle (1-1=2), D Matt Dumba (2-0=2), D Jared Spurgeon (1-1=2) and D Ryan Suter (0-2=2) own two points apiece…G Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves…D Jeff Petry scored the lone goal for Montreal with assists from C Michael Chaput and RW Andrew Shaw…G Antti Niemi recorded the loss, stopping 16-of-23 shots…G Carey Price made all nine saves in relief.
WILD LEADERS: C Eric Staal leads Minnesota with 44 points (22-22=44) in 47 games against Montreal…Parise has 28 points (15-13=28) in 33 contests…Granlund has 14 points (2-12=14) in 11 contests…LW Marcus Foligno owns 12 points (5-7=12) in 25 games…C Eric Fehr has 10 points (8-2=10) in 27 matches.
WILD GOALIES:Dubnyk is 8-1-1 with a 2.09 GAA, a .932 SV% and one shutout in 10 career starts vs. the Canadiens…G Alex Stalock earned a shutout win in his sole career action, stopping all 20 shots faced (3/2/15).
CANADIENS LEADERS:D Shea Weber leads Montreal with 25 points (6-19=25) in 44 games against Minnesota…Shaw has eight points (4-4=8) in 23 matches…RW Brendan Gallagher owns six points (4-2=6) in eight games…D Jordie Benn has six points (3-3=6) in 21 contests.
CANADIENS GOALIES:Price is 4-6-0 with a 3.14 GAA and a .887 SV% in 11 games (10 starts) vs. the Wild…Niemi is 11-5-2 with a 2.41 GAA, a .911 SV% and one shutout in 19 games (18 starts).

Did you know?

Minnesota is on an eight-game win streak against Montreal (12/3/14-12/11/18), outscoring the Canadiens, 35-10; and has won each of the last three games played at Bell Centre (3/12/16-11/9/17)… The eight-game win streak is the team's longest active win streak vs. a NHL opponent.