Minnesota Wild overtime victory over Montreal Canadiens, Digi Mart USA News (Montreal): The Minnesota Wild finally broke their overtime slump Tuesday night, beating the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. The win came after the Wild had gone 0-4 in overtime this season despite having Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes on the roster and getting most of the overtime minutes.
Kaprizov scored a four-on-three power-play goal just 21 seconds into the extra session, after Canadiens forward Cole Caufield was penalized. The goal was Kaprizov’s 15th career overtime goal, extending his team record, and his 17th of the season.
Joel Eriksson Ek won a key faceoff that allowed the Wild to enter the zone easily, where Hughes and Boldy set up the finish.
Coach John Hynes did not agree that the Wild had been too passive in overtime. He pointed to a previous overtime loss to the New York Islanders, when Kaprizov had a two-on-one chance, missed the net, and the Islanders scored moments later.
Hynes said the team’s problem was often what happened after attacks, when turnovers led to counterattacks.
Kaprizov also said the team had generated good chances and simply needed to score. Quinn Hughes suggested the losses were partly the result of bad luck and scheduling, noting the Wild were playing on a back-to-back.
He said he expected the team to get more bounces over the course of the season.
Hynes said he hoped the victory would help the Wild turn the page. Michael McCarron said the team’s power play had been a strength entering overtime, and that the power-play unit was able to finish the game.
