MONTREAL — Mikael Granlund scored and Devan Dubnyk stopped all 32 shots he faced as the Minnesota Wild downed the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Monday in a game where Montreal lost captain Shea Weber to injury.
Dubnyk earned his first shutout of the season for the Wild (21-17-3), who have won three straight games, all on the road.
Minnesota Wild Devan Dubnyk stops Montreal Canadiens Max Domi (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
Carey Price stopped 24-of-25 shots in defeat for the Canadiens (22-16-5), who have dropped two in a row.
Granlund scored the game’s only goal at 6:58 of the third period after jumping on an awful no-look pass giveaway by Montreal defenceman Jeff Petry deep in his own zone.
Granlund waited out Price, who was then impeded by Petry, for his 12th of the season.
The Wild have won eight consecutive games against the Canadiens dating back to Nov. 8, 2014. Granlund has at least a point in each of those victories.
Weber was injured in the first period after taking a puck to the face six minutes into the encounter. The Canadiens captain blocked a shot by Granlund and the puck rode up his own stick and hit him on the left cheek.
Weber winced in pain on the bench but he still played seven more shifts to finish the first period. He did not return for the second.
The 33-year-old already missed the first 24 games of the season with foot and knee injuries dating back to last season.
Defencemen Petry, Victor Mete and Jordie Benn were forced to carry the load of Weber’s absence, playing 26:40, 21:15 and 21:12 respectively.
Montreal was also without forward Kenny Agostino for most of the game. Agostino was given a game misconduct just 2:28 into the match because of a late hit on Minnesota’s Eric Fehr, who left the game after hitting his head on the edge of the players’ bench. Fehr did not return.
The depleted roster finally took its toll on Claude Julien’s men in the third period as Granlund netted his first goal since Nov. 29.
The Canadiens failed to avenge a 7-1 loss the last time these two teams met — Montreal’s worst defeat of the season.
Notes: The Wild took a season-high 23 penalty minutes in the first period. … Price will not attend the NHL All-Star Game due to “a nagging injury,” the Canadiens announced earlier Monday. … Montreal placed defenceman David Schlemko on waivers.
Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press
