The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
ST. PAUL -- Following a thrilling overtime win on Hockey Day Minnesota, the Wild will try and keep its point streak going Monday when it hosts the Montreal Canadiens at Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild has captured a point in six consecutive games, including a 4-3 comeback victory last time out on Saturday against division-rival Chicago.
It capped a back-to-back sweep of the Blackhawks following a 5-1 in over Chicago at the United Center on Friday night. The Blackhawks pushed back in the rematch in St. Paul on Saturday, jumping out to leads of 2-0 in the first and 3-2 late in the third, but as it has done all season, the Wild rallied to tie the game late with the extra attacker before scoring the winning goal in overtime.
Marcus Foligno scored winning tally, his first career overtime winner, on a sweet feed from Jordan Greenway.
"It's great that the coaches trust us to go out there and do the job," Greenway said. "I think we had a bunch of guys go out in the overtime there. And I just think it shows a lot about the depth of our team, which is something we're gonna need now all the way til that final game. We're gonna need everyone stepping up and doing what needs to be done."
The game Saturday marked a return to the lineup of captain Jared Spurgeon, who played for the first time since Dec. 16 because of a lower-body injury.
Spurgeon made an immediate impact too, assisting on two goals and bumping his own point streak to three games. During that stretch, he has five points.
"He's our captain," said Wild forward Mats Zuccarello. "You can feel when he's out."
The Wild's point streak has come at a good time, as each of the top five teams in the Central Divison entered the day Sunday on a winning stretch, including division-leading Colorado, which has won six consecutive games to open up a four-point lead in the Central.
Minnesota is eight points back of the Avs but also has a couple games in hand. The Wild trails second-place Nashville by four points but has six games in hand and is two back of St. Louis with three more games to play.
The game versus the Canadiens is the first of three-straight games against Eastern Conference foes; the Wild heads to New York on Thursday for games against the Rangers and Islanders next weekend.
Montreal comes to town eager to get home and at the tail end of a seven-game road trip against mostly Western foes. The stop in Minnesota is the final game of the trip, one that has seen the Habs win just once in the first six games but has a point in four of six (1-2-3), including points in three consecutive.
The Canadiens lost 3-2 in overtime in Colorado on Saturday, digging out of an early 2-0 hole to force the extra session.
Montreal's 23 points is the fewest in the league, one less than Arizona, and they remain the only team in the NHL with single-digit victories.
A bulk of the Canadiens' offense comes from Nick Suzuki, who leads the club with eight goals, 16 assists and 24 points. Tyler Toffoli has seven goals and 21 points in just 29 games.
With Carey Price away from the team following offseason surgery, Jake Allen has carried the bulk of the work in goal, posting a 5-16-2 record in 24 games with a 3.15 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.