MONTREAL — You could really feel it coming.

After the Minnesota Wild got back in a game in which they had committed way too many turnovers early and defended way too often late, they seemed to run out of gas playing for the second time in less than 24 hours and were almost begging for the clock to wind down so they could secure at least a point in overtime.

But alas, after Jesper Wallstedt swallowed three shots to end three straight sloppy shifts, the Wild couldn’t escape a fourth straight brutal shift in which they were running around their own zone. After Nico Sturm lost a faceoff and later couldn’t knock Nick Suzuki off a puck, that puck wound up on the stick of the Montreal Canadiens’ most dangerous scorer, Cole Caufield.

The Habs sniper picked his spot and put it right through to the back of the twine for the winning goal — a back-breaker for the Wild — with 15 seconds left in regulation to deliver the Canadiens a well-deserved 4-3 win at Bell Centre.

“We got to make a harder play,” coach John Hynes said, clearly referencing Sturm, who had played so well the night before in Toronto, winning eight of nine draws in the defensive zone. “We got an opportunity to be able to make a hard play to get it out. Obviously, it’s a little bit under pressure late in the game, and it didn’t happen.”

Vladimir Tarasenko’s second goal of the game, fourth in two nights and fifth on the 2-1 road trip, tied the game at 3-3 on the power play with 7:20 left. But the Wild couldn’t get out of dodge with a result in what was their toughest loss of the season, given how close they were to at least getting a point.

But the Wild returned to Minnesota afterward to start a four-game homestand Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, and with this hellacious schedule due to the Olympics, they don’t have time to lick their wounds.

“I think it’s pretty good overall trip and very tight schedule, so there’s no time to be upset or happy,” Tarasenko said. “Have to be ready for the next ones.”

It was only Montreal’s second win over the Wild in the past 20 meetings. The Wild had also won nine in a row against the Canadiens and eight of their previous nine in Montreal.

“I think maybe back-to-back games late there,” Wallstedt said. “We’ve been in our own zone a lot tonight, and I don’t know, maybe tired … tired minds. We just couldn’t get the puck out unfortunately. They made us pay on that.”

Added Brock Faber, who scored a goal but looked like he lost Caufield on the winner when he took a quick glance at the clock, “A point would have been huge. Back-to-backs like that, obviously getting it into overtime would have given us a chance to get two points. I think that one sucked at the end, that last shift. He’s the most dangerous player on the ice, and I gotta close harder there. That’s what he does. That’s what he does, he scores big goals. Yeah, would have been great to give ourselves a chance to earn the two points in overtime.”

Canadiens throw shade at USA Hockey, Guerin

Not only did Caufield score the winner, Lane Hutson also scored in the second period a little more than two minutes after Faber tied the score.

Caufield and Hutson were considered among the United States’ snubs for the upcoming Olympics — Caufield especially — and Wild GM Bill Guerin just so happened to be the guy in charge of selecting the roster.

Naturally, the Canadiens’ social media team remembered after Caufield’s 25th goal and league-leading seventh game-winner.

.@usahockey pic.twitter.com/jUck62SBbY

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 21, 2026

Told about the tweet, Caufield said, laughing, “They did? Obviously, you know who you’re playing against, you know.”

Then, shown the tweet by reporters, Caufield said, “Oh, Jesus Christ. Yeah, I don’t know about that. Honestly it just feels good to win. We haven’t beat those guys in a while, they play a game where they just wait for you to make a mistake. I think it feels good to just get two points.”

Shown the tweet, Hutson said, “Oh, that’s pretty funny.”

To their credit, neither Caufield nor Hutson threw shade at Guerin or his staff.

“He has the hardest job ever,” Hutson said of Guerin. “There’s so many good players that could maybe be on that team, and Cole’s definitely one of them. That had to feel pretty good for him. I try not to think too much about it. I just try to build my game and help my team.”

Tarasenko remains hot

With the Wild missing their entire second line, Tarasenko scored his fourth and fifth goal of the road trip. The hot streak comes after he met with Hynes before the trip began.

“Vladdy and I, we talked to a few days ago just a little bit about his game,” Hynes said. “I think his game has been very solid, but his ability to use his shot, and when he plays with pace, when he’s playing a skating game, that’s when he’s the most effective. And in Buffalo and Toronto, for sure, I thought he was … a willing skater with the puck and without the puck, and I think when he does that, he has the ability to make plays. But I think the other part is he gets himself in positions where he can utilize his shot.”

Tarasenko now has 13 goals in 44 games after scoring 11 goals in 80 games last season for Detroit.

“Obviously with the guys out you have more minutes, more situations you play in, and try to help the team win,” Tarasenko said.

Added Faber, “He’s playing awesome. Especially with (Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy) down, he’s stepped up big-time for us. That’s why he’s a leader. That’s why he’s had such a successful career. Such a great addition to this team.”

Kaprizov in goal scoring slump

Kirill Kaprizov finished the trip with seven assists, including two more Tuesday, but this was the latest game in a string this season where the opposing stars on the other team are providing the bigger moments.

It’s hard to criticize him when he has scored 25 goals (tied for ninth in the NHL) and has 59 points (ninth), but for a player that’s about to be paid an NHL-record $17 million, he’s expected to be more dominant and not turn pucks over as often as he has lately.

He has scored three goals in his past 16 games, one in the last nine. On Tuesday, on a five-on-three in the third period, Mats Zuccarello set him up for an open net at the side of the net and he flubbed it.

“Yeah, I don’t score,” Kaprizov said. “Actually I have good chances all the time almost every game. Just like (tonight) I had to score into open net and, yeah, it happens sometimes. I know I gotta be better and just try to do (it) myself.”

In Buffalo on Saturday, Kaprizov said he recognizes that with all the injuries he’s relied upon to score, especially because Hynes is giving him more ice time and offensive-zone starts.

“Sometimes this year don’t score so many goals,” he said. “But try to just do my best and that’s it.”

Eriksson Ek, Bogosian returns close?

Hynes confirmed The Athletic’s report from earlier Tuesday that defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower body) is being shut down and won’t play for Sweden in the Olympics. A league source said Tuesday morning that Brodin is expected back in six to eight weeks, so we’ll see if that timeline sticks or gets extended.

As for the other injured players, Hynes says there’s a chance we see Eriksson Ek and Zach Bogosian on the upcoming homestand. Eriksson Ek (lower body) has missed six games and Bogosian (lower body) eight. As for Boldy, he missed his third game in a row with a nagging lower-body injury and must at least miss Thursday’s game against Detroit due to when he was placed on injured reserve. However, Hynes has said it’s unlikely we see Boldy in the next few games and on Saturday said he expected him to miss a week or two.

Hynes didn’t have an update yet on Marcus Johansson’s status. He missed his third game with a lower-body injury.