Canadiens 3 - 4 Wild
Final
  for this game

Pominville's late goal boosts Wild over Canadiens

Nov 2, 2013 - 5:48 AM St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Pominville scored the winner with 5:28 to play as the Minnesota Wild took a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

Pominville scored twice and added an assist while Nino Niederreiter and Justin Fontaine each had a goal for the Wild, who have won four of their last five. Josh Harding gave up three goals on 31 shots.

"We talked a lot earlier in the year about finishing and they did a good job tonight," said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. "We have guys here who are capable of taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them and we saw that tonight."

P.K. Subban had a goal and an assist while Andrei Markov assisted on all three goals for the Canadiens, who had won three of four coming in. Carey Price allowed all four goals on 25 shots.

Montreal had rallied from two goals down to tie the game in the third, but the Wild went on top with 5:28 to play.

Keith Ballard blasted a shot from the high slot that Zach Parise had knocked down with the stick in the slot. The puck then went to the left side where Pominville swept it in for a 4-3 lead.

Montreal pulled Price in the final minute for an extra attacker, but was unable to net the equalizer before time expired.

Fontaine got Minnesota on the board just 5:45 into the game with his fourth of the year, but Brendan Gallagher answered 25 seconds later on a deflection of a Alex Galchenyuk shot.

Pominville's first of the game at 8:41 of the second period off a wrister gave the Wild a 2-1 lead.

The Wild took a 3-1 lead at 4:02 of the third as Mikael Granlund sent a pass from the right boards to the side of the net where Niederreiter got a stick on it to tip the puck high under the crossbar.

Montreal, though, got one back three minutes later as Subban's one-timer from the left point on the power play made it a 3-2 game.

The Habs then tied the game at 10:13 as Markov's slap shot from the right point was tipped in by Brian Gionta in front of the net.

"We didn't play a full game," Gionta said. "We had spurts where we did it and you saw that we were successful at that time, but this league is too tough. You've got to do it for 60 minutes to get wins."

Game Notes

Montreal plays in Colorado on Saturday ... Minnesota hosts New Jersey on Sunday ... Montreal had won four of five against Minnesota coming into the game ... Ballard and Granlund each had two assists ... Ballard had missed the previous seven games with a concussion, while Minnesota forward Charlie Coyle and defenseman Jonas Brodin also returned to play. Coyle had missed 11 straight with a sprained knee, while Brodin had been out with a broken cheekbone suffered on Oct. 22 after a puck hit his face.






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