HC Martin St. Louis lauds Montreal Canadiens' defense, singles out "unfortunate" turning point in shutout loss to Wild 

The Montreal Canadiens suffered a 3-0 shutout defeat to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. After the game, however, Habs head coach Martin St. Louis praised the team's defense, pointing out the "unfortunate" turning point that he believes cost them the game on the night.

In the third period, Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble was hit with a double minor for high-sticking Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon at 8:22.

The penalty proved costly for the Canadiens, as Marco Rossi scored with less than three seconds remaining on the powerplay, extending the Wild's lead to 2-0.

St. Louis said in a postgame interview:

"I felt we were very patient and there was not much room for either team. It wasn't an offensive wasn't a track meet. You know, both teams were playing tight defensively. And to me, it's a really good sign of where we're heading with our club.

"And, you know, it's unfortunate that we take a four-minute penalty when we had a numerical advantage, it was like a three-on-two that was developing. And we take a high stick penalty. ...These are actions that help the other team. You know, we almost killed it," he added.

(from 10:53 mark onwards)

Sam Montembeault made 25 saves for the Habs. With the defeat on the night, the Canadiens remain bottom of the Atlantic Division and league standings with 12 points after 17 games.

Montreal will look to bounce back when it hosts the Columbus Blue Jackets at Centre Bell on Saturday. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Minnesota Wild shuts out Montreal Canadiens 3-0

On Thursday, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Montreal Canadiens at Xcel City Center. They edged past the Habs with a 3-0 shutout win.

Kiril Kaprizov accumulated two points, while Matt Boldy, Declan Chisholm, Frederick Gaudreau, Marcus Johansson, Marco Rossi and Jared Spurgeon all notched up a point for the Wild on the night.

"I thought the effort was really good,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said via NHL.com. “I thought we had a really good start to the game as well. Both teams looked like they were ready to play. … We defended hard when we had to. I thought the third period we regathered ourselves with our puck management.”

Filip Gustavsson was solid between the pipes, making 19 saves. This was his first shutout win of the season and seventh in his career.

Minnesota hosts the Dallas Stars next on Saturday with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. ET.