ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Jim Dowd and Jeremy Stevenson scored first-period goals as the Minnesota Wild captured a 2-1 exhibition win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
Manny Fernandez faced only 13 shots as Minnesota improved its preseason record to 4-3. Andrei Markov scored for the Canadiens, who have won just once in seven games (1-6).
Minnesota led 2-0 just 8:33 into the game, but the Canadiens came back and nearly tied it before the end of the first.
Dowd, the oldest member of the Wild at 34 , converted the rebound off a shot from the point by Nick Schultz just 54 seconds in for his third goal in five games.
Stevenson scored a power-play goal at 8:33, redirecting a pass from Filip Kuba.
Markov split Fernandez’s pads at 10:31, also on the power play.
The Canadiens narrowly missed a chance to get even in the waning seconds of the first but Mike Ribeiro’s wrist shot from the left slot came just after the horn.