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Subban's hat trick helps Habs dominate Wild

Mar 21, 2011 - 3:04 AM St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - P.K. Subban tallied the first hat trick of his career and added an assist as the Montreal Canadiens routed the Minnesota Wild, 8-1, at Xcel Energy Center.

Ryan White had a goal and two assists while James Wisniewski added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who won for the eighth time in their past 11 games. Benoit Pouliot added three assists while Alex Auld stopped 30 shots.

Montreal now has 87 points and sits in the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference, two back of Tampa Bay and five ahead of the New York Rangers.

Mikko Koivu scored on a penalty shot to account for the only goal for the Wild, who have dropped their last six games to fall out of the playoff chase.

Jose Theodore gave up five goals on 19 shots before being pulled in the second period. Niklas Backstrom finished the game between the pipes and allowed three goals on 13 shots.

Minnesota is now seven points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with nine games to play.

It took Montreal just 31 seconds to score, as White finished a 2-on-1 break for his first career goal.

The Habs took a 2-0 lead just over six minutes later, when Andrei Kostitsyn buried the puck from the slot over Theodore's glove.

Montreal struck quickly to start the second period. Subban passed out front as he skated behind the net, and the puck hit a Wild skater before going in only 51 seconds into the frame.

During another Canadiens 2-on-1 break, Michael Cammalleri stopped at the right circle to wait for a sliding defender to go past. He then fired the puck to the left side, where Wisniewski buried it at the 5:22 mark of the second.

Travis Moen scored two minutes later, and Subban tallied a power-play marker with 3:37 left in the second for a 6-0 lead.

Subban completed the hat trick 1:27 into the third, when his slap shot from the right circle beat Backstrom.

Auld's shutout bid was spoiled by Koivu's penalty-shot goal with 7:46 to play, while Tom Pyatt scored less than two minutes later.

Game Notes

Montreal hosts Buffalo on Tuesday...Minnesota hosts Toronto on Tuesday...Montreal has won three of the last four against Minnesota...Cammalleri and David Desharnais both had two assists.