Montreal Canadiens vs Minnesota Wild
6:00 PM ET, March 20, 2011
Xcel Energy Center, SAINT PAUL, Minnesota
The injury-riddled Montreal Canadiens might be reeling from a listless effort, but they're still comfortably in playoff position. An untimely losing streak has the Minnesota Wild's postseason hopes fading fast.
The Canadiens will likely need a better effort if they're going to capitalize on the spiraling Wild in the teams' lone meeting of the season Sunday night in Minnesota.
Montreal (39-26-7) has dropped three of five, including a 6-3 loss at the New York Rangers on Friday. The Canadiens never recovered from a sloppy opening period, which saw them outscored 5-1 while surrendering the final three goals in a 1:07 span.
The poor performance might have been explained by Montreal's missing nine players due to injury and playing one night after a 3-2 shootout win over Tampa Bay, but captain Brian Gionta wouldn't agree.
"That's no excuse," Gionta told the team's official website. "That's not why those plays happened; it's not fatigue. We lost focus and made some plays we normally aren't making. For parts of this game we just fell asleep and that's what ultimately hurt us.
The Canadiens will likely need a better effort if they're going to capitalize on the spiraling Wild in the teams' lone meeting of the season Sunday night in Minnesota.
Montreal (39-26-7) has dropped three of five, including a 6-3 loss at the New York Rangers on Friday. The Canadiens never recovered from a sloppy opening period, which saw them outscored 5-1 while surrendering the final three goals in a 1:07 span.
The poor performance might have been explained by Montreal's missing nine players due to injury and playing one night after a 3-2 shootout win over Tampa Bay, but captain Brian Gionta wouldn't agree.
"That's no excuse," Gionta told the team's official website. "That's not why those plays happened; it's not fatigue. We lost focus and made some plays we normally aren't making. For parts of this game we just fell asleep and that's what ultimately hurt us.
Watch Montreal Canadiens vs Minnesota Wild Live Online Stream Free March 20, 2011
