MONTREAL -- A lot of fingers were pointed lately at Max Pacioretty and his centre David Desharnais over the Montreal Canadiens weak goal production. Todd Frazier Jersey . That was put to rest, at least for now, on Tuesday night when Pacioretty got a natural hat trick in the second period and the Canadiens skated to a 6-2 NHL victory over the Minnesota Wild. Pacioretty picked up his first goals in 10 games since Oct. 12 in Vancouver, although he missed eight games with a leg injury during that stretch. "Theres a lot of things probably being said about me out there -- thats how it is in this business when youre not performing," said Pacioretty, who among other slights, had been criticized for being a "perimeter" player of late. "Everyone goes through it, but it felt good tonight. "You can look at stats all you want but I missed a lot of good opportunities lately. One game I had eight shots. It started getting into my head, thinking that I cant score, so its definitely a monkey off the back. The first one was lucky, off a skate and in, but you take them as they come." Desharnais got two assists, giving him three points in 20 games this season. Only last week, newly elected Montreal mayor Denis Coderre caused a stir when he suggested Desharnais be sent to the minors. He was scratched one game, but bounced back with better efforts of late. When he is on his game, the stocky centre is a clever passer and playmaker, although he only seems ever to click with Pacioretty. Part of the breakthrough came when coach Michel Therrien put tenacious right winger Brendan Gallagher on their unit. That threesome was Montreals best line in the second half of last season. And Pacioretty went hard to the front of the net for two of his goals. "Davy and I, our chemistry is at a level where he knows where Im going and he can throw blind passes, and thats what happened, said Pacioretty. "Gally gets everyone going. "Hes an energetic player. With him getting into the forecheck and disrupting the defence a little, all it takes is a split second. Hes a hound on the puck and he got us going." Michael Bournival, Daniel Briere and Alex Galchenyuk also scored for the Canadiens (11-9-2), who had tallied only 18 goals in their previous 11 games. Nino Niederreiter and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild (13-5-4), which ended a four-game winning streak and an eight-game undefeated run dating to a 5-1 loss to Chicago on Oct. 28. Minnesota looked nothing like the air-tight defensive club that was piling up wins in recent weeks. Once Paciorettys first goal went in, they put up little fight. Top defenceman Ryan Suter ended the night minus-3, while his partner Jonas Brodin was minus-4. Coach Mike Yeo wants to see the team push back Wednesday night in Ottawa. "Its all a matter how you take this one in," said Yeo. "If we just sit here and say weve been on a nice run and this was bound to happen, then I dont think we should expect much difference from tonight. "If this stings like it should, it should he motivating for us to win that game." Wild starter Josh Harding, one of the NHLs three stars for his three wins last week, was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 19 shots in favour of third-stringer Darcy Kuemper, who looked shaky in allowing three goals on nine shots. Yeo said pulling Harding was partly to keep him fresh to play in Ottawa. Harding has given up three only twice this season, both times to Montreal. At 2:57 of the second period, Paciorettys slump ended when he had a Desharnais pass go in off his skate from in front of the net. The Canadiens, coming off a 1-0 loss at home to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, had not scored since a Lars Eller goal at 7:34 of the second period of a 3-2 shootout win last Friday in Columbus. Pacioretty converted a spin-around pass from Desharnais at 10:06 at even strength and then ended Hardings night when he tipped in P.K. Subbans point shot on a power play at 13:36. Bournival came from behind the net and beat Kuemper inside the near post at 16:16. Briere one-timed Brian Giontas cross-ice pass behind Kuemper on a counter attack 4:42 into the third. Niederreiter spoiled Carey Prices shutout less than a minute later when he went to the net to bang in his own rebound after a feed from behind the net from Kyle Brodziak. Galchenyuk converted an Andrei Markov feed on a power play at 7:35. Then Heatley, a shadow of his former self this season, jammed in a goal on a power play with 1.3 seconds left in the game for only his third goal in 22 games. In his heyday as a 50-goal and 100-point man with the Ottawa Senators, Heatley -- along with Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson -- terrorized the Canadiens. In 43 career games against Montreal, he has 25 goals and 52 points. Notes: Six goals was a season high scored for Montreal and allowed by Minnesota. . . Pacioretty got his second career hat trick (last: Feb. 9, 2012). . . Winger Rene Bourque (lower body) sat out and Ryan White returned to the Montreal lineup. . . Douglas Murray and George Parros were scratched. . . Minnesota sat out defenceman Matt Dumba. . .The Wild started a four-game road trip that takes them to Ottawa and then onto Winnipeg on Saturday and St. Louis on Monday.Aroldis Chapman Jersey . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. Getting Creative The Pittsburgh Penguins will try their best to acquire Ryan Kesler from the Vancouver Canucks before the Trade Deadline. Gary Sanchez Jersey . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.A football season can be a long, arduous affair. Practice after practice, meeting after meeting, film session after film session. The days run together and any break from the tedium is much appreciated. In the 2012 season, the Toronto Argonauts had a class clown. Cornerback Ahmad Carroll kept things loose with his razor-sharp sense of humour. If you saw a player laughing so hard that he was on the verge of tears and you asked why he was busting a gut, the answer was usually one word: "Carroll." Then, on October 17th, with the season more than half over and the daily repetition making the day-to-day grind even tougher, a life force unlike any other in the CFL was unleashed on the club. The Argos signed Adriano Belli. Belli was known as a talented, yet sometimes dirty player on the field. His well-deserved off-field reputation was as a person who would do anything to get a laugh. Anything. Head coach Scott Milanovich says that last years arrival of the man known as The Kissing Bandit came at a key time. "Certainly Bellis arrival last year was well-timed" Milanovich told TSN.ca. "At the time, we were struggling and we needed a little levity." Coincidence or not, Bellis added life to the locker room came at the same time the team started to show signs of life as a contender. It lost Bellis first game, then ran off five straight wins en route to a Grey Cup championship. Does the team have a comedic go-to guy this season? In a word, no. "I dont know that you can replace an Ahmad Carroll or a Belli" continued Milanovich. "I dont know if we have that guy, but weve got some guys who, behind closed doors, can at least take a stab at it." Multiple players pointed the finger at members of the linebacking corps as the guys to keep things loose. Robert McCune, Jason Pottinger and Marcus Ball all received more than one mention as the class clown. The latter didnt mind being cited one bit. "Its very important to have a guy to loosen up the load a little bit" said Ball, the teams top defensive player a year ago. "You havve meetings most of the work day, youre out here (at practice) battling with big, strong guys, and when coach is yelling at you, you need someone to loosen you up, so those guys help out a locker room and help brighten the day. Chris Carter Jersey. ." Who does Ball feel provides the most comic relief? "I dont think its one" continued the linebacker, "I think weve got a handful of guys who can light the locker room up. Khalif (Mitchell), myself, Pottinger and McCune, hes the sleeper." James Yurichuk was with the B.C. Lions a year ago, missing out on the Carroll/Belli experience. Another member of the linebacking corps, Yurichuk was also pointed out as someone who breaks up the monotony of daily routine. That was news to him. "I didnt know they thought about me like that" said the native of Brampton, Ontario. "I always thought it was Pottinger, a.k.a. Dr. Evil, taking on that role. Its a grind out here, so whatever youre able to do to loosen things up and keep spirits high, its good overall for the team. I just try to be myself within the lines and if they laugh, they laugh." Offensive lineman Jarriel King is another newcomer, who added his own sense of humour when asked about how he felt about his teammates. "I got tired of them very early. I stay away from a lot of the guys, Im a loner" deadpanned King, before talking about how important it is to keep things loose. "We just have fun a lot" King told TSN.ca. "Thats the best thing you can do during a long season like this. With bodies aching and everything, you just have to come to a common ground and just have some fun. As much as you would think that we do stay away from each other (away from the locker room), we kind of do stay together. Its the camraderie, but we joke around a lot." King pointed to Ball and McCune as being the "big two" when it came to comedic relief. They may not be as outrageous as Carroll and Belli were, but may be equally important to the disposition of the team as it attempts to repeat as Grey Cup champions. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Discount NFL Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys China NFL Gear Jerseys From China NFL Jerseys China ' ' '