Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Montreal

The essentials

ST. PAUL -- The Wild opens a four-game homestand on Tuesday when it faces the Montreal Canadiens at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota returns home following a three-game road trip to Western Canada in which it went 1-2, winning the opener in Vancouver by a 3-2 margin before losing on back-to-back nights in Calgary and Edmonton.

The Canadiens come to St. Paul 2-0 on its current three-game road swing after defeating Ottawa and Chicago on the first two stops. Montreal scored a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks on Sunday and has a win in four of its first five games during the month of December.
Montreal is led offensively by newcomer Max Domi, acquired in a trade with Arizona during the offseason. He leads the club in goals (14) and points (31) and is tied for the team lead in assists (17).

Another offseason acquisition, forward Tomas Tatar, has 12 goals and 24 points while Jonathan Drouin has 10 goals and 16 assists.
Carey Price has posted an 11-8-4 record in 23 starts with a 2.92 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. He has won four of his past five starts, allowing two goals or fewer in each of those victories.

Home sweet home

• Minnesota looks to end a two-game losing streak at Xcel Energy Center Tuesday night after suffering two home consecutive losses Nov. 27-Dec. 1. The Wild has not lost three-or-more games in Saint Paul since March 23-28, 2017 - a span of 58 games.
• Per NHL Stats, dating back to the start of last season, the Wild is 35-10-10 in 55-regular season games at Xcel Energy Center, with only six regulation losses in the building since Dec. 27, 2017 (24-6-8). The 10 regulation losses since the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign are the fewest in the League.
• Mikael Granlund (5-9=14) and Ryan Suter (1-13=14) each lead the team with 14 points in 14 home games this season. Suter also ranks T-4th amongst NHL defensemen in assists and fifth in scoring on home ice.

Canadian club

• Minnesota closes out a stretch of five consecutive games against a team from Canada with Montreal Tuesday.
• The five-game stretch against a Canadian opponent marks the first time in franchise history the Wild will face five different Canadian teams in a row. The five-game stretch also marks the fourth time in team history Minnesota has played five straight against a Canadian opponent:
• From Nov. 23 through Dec. 15, Minnesota plays a Canadian opponent eight times in 11 contests, facing all seven teams from Canada in that span, including Calgary twice.

Series notes

2017-18: The Wild swept its season series against Montreal (2-0-0)…Minnesota earned a 6-3 victory in the first meeting at Xcel Energy Center (11/2) and a 3-0 shutout win in the second meeting at Bell Centre (11/9)…RW Mikael Granlund (0-3=3) and LW Jason Zucker (3-0=3) led the team with three points each…D Matt Dumba (0-2=2), C Mikko Koivu (0-2=2), RW Nino Niederreiter (1-1=2) and D Ryan Suter (1-1=2) tallied two points apiece…G Devan Dubnyk went 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA, a .958 SV% and one shutout in two starts…RW Brendan Gallagher led Montreal with two goals…RW Andrew Shaw also netted a goal…G Carey Price made 21 saves in the first contest…G Charlie Lindgren stopped 32-of-34 shots in the second contest.
WILD LEADERS: C Eric Staal leads Minnesota with 43 points (21-22=43) in 46 games against Montreal…LW Zach Parise has 25 points (14-11=25) in 32 contests…Granlund has 11 points (2-9=11) in 10 contests…LW Marcus Foligno owns 11 points (5-6=11) in 24 games…C Eric Fehr has 10 points (8-2=10) in 26 matches.
WILD GOALIES: Dubnyk is 7-1-1 with a 2.21 GAA, a .929 SV% and one shutout in nine 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 43 games against Minnesota…Shaw has seven points (4-3=7) in 22 matches…Gallagher owns six points (4-2=6) in seven games…D Jordie Benn has six points (3-3=6) in 20 contests.
CANADIENS GOALIES: Price is 4-6-0 with a 3.21 GAA and a .883 SV% in 10 starts vs. the Wild…G Antti Niemi is 11-4-2 with a 2.11 GAA, a .922 SV% and one shutout in 18 games (17 starts) against Minnesota.

Did you know?

Minnesota is on a seven-game win streak against Montreal (12/3/14-11/9/17), outscoring the Canadiens, 28-9; and has won each of the last five games played at Xcel Energy Center (11/1/13-11/2/17)…Both winning streaks are the longest in franchise history against the Canadiens while the seven-game win streak is the longest active win streak against any NHL team in Wild history.
Related:
Kunin aims to fill void left behind by Koivu