The Montreal Canadiens will look to extend their win streak to three games when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
The Habs are coming off a 3-2 overtime victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday and have points in four of their past five games (3-1-1).
“I feel like we’re locked in right now,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis. “It’s the most organized that we’ve been since I’ve taken this job, and it takes time to build that, different parts of the game, and we’re able to expand on some of the details inside the different concepts, different parts of the game that we want to address. So I think we’re just evolving as a team, but as a group I feel we’re really locked in.”
Left-winger Josh Anderson enters Thursday’s contest with three goals and an assist over his past two games.
Forward Sean Monahan has a team-leading nine goals in 31 games this season, while Nick Suzuki has 26 points over 31 games for the Habs, who are in the middle of a seven-game road trip. Suzuki has a goal and four helpers over his last five games.
Montreal is 7-4-2 on the road this season and have won five of six away from home dating back to Nov. 22.
Goaltender Samuel Montembeault will start for the Habs on Thursday. The 27-year-old is 7-4-2 with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage in 14 games this season.
Minnesota, meanwhile, is looking to win back-to-back games following a 4-3 overtime victory against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. The Wild have won four of five entering Thursday’s contest. Three of the four wins have come in overtime or a shootout.
Left-winger Kirill Kaprizov has two goals and two assists over his last five games. The Wild forward, who scored twice, including the overtime winner against Boston, has 10 goals and 27 points in 30 games this season.
“I think sometimes when guys struggle, you really have to look through the process of how they play and what they do,” said Wild coach John Hynes. “I’m really happy for him because sometimes when elite players or guys that are point producers don’t get what they should get rewarded or their game falters, and I feel like he just stayed with it, continued to compete and play the right way.”
Center Joel Eriksson EK has a team-leading 14 goals in 30 games this season.
Forward Mats Zuccarello, who missed his first game with an upper-body injury on Tuesday, leads the Wild with 28 points in 28 games.
Minnesota rookie defenseman Brock Faber logged over 30 minutes of ice time in the win over the Bruins — it was his third game this season with over 30 minutes of ice time, making him the first Wild blue liner in franchise history to record three games of 30-plus minutes of time on ice.
Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson is 8-8-2 with a 2.91 GAA and a .906 save percentage this season.
–Field Level Media
