Minnesota Wild at Montreal Canadiens

Caufield scores late winner, lifting Canadiens 4-3 over Wild

Caufield took a pass from Nick Suzuki and fired a shot from the top of the right circle for his 25th of the season.

Phillip Danault — with his first of the season — Alexandre Carrier and Lane Hutson also scored for Montreal.

Rookie winger Ivan Demidov provided two assists and Jakub Dobes made 16 saves.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and Brock Faber also scored for Minnesota, which Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Monday. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 29 shots.

Tarasenko opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 10:44 of the first period, beating Dobes on Minnesota’s second shot with a one-timer.

Danault jammed in a rebound to break his goal drought and tie the game at 15:22.

Carrier doubled the lead with 52 seconds remaining in the opening period, redirecting Mike Matheson’s point shot after carrying the puck into Minnesota’s zone.

Faber equalized with a wrist shot from the point that trickled under Dobes’ left pad at 10:16 in the second, but Montreal regained the lead when Hutson hammered home a Demidov pass from a sharp angle at 12:35.

Penalties to Hutson and Matheson put the Wild on a 5-on-3 power play with 8:11 remaining in regulation, and Tarasenko converted his second of the game moments after Hutson exited the box to make it a 5-on-4.

Canadiens forward Kirby Dach returned to the lineup for the first time since breaking his foot from blocking a shot on Nov. 15. Winger Alexandre Texier missed the game with a lower-body injury.

The Wild played without forwards Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, and defensemen Jonas Brodin and Zach Bogosian.

Up next Wild: Host Detroit on Thursday night.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Thursday night.

MTL leads series 1-0