A strong start gave way to a sloppy second.
In a scene that was all too familiar — even if it had mostly been cleaned up of late — the Winnipeg Jets let an opponent hang around when they could have pulled away and were eventually left in the dust.
An inability to extend the lead after scoring the first goal, despite a shot clanging off the iron and several other Grade-A chances that were thwarted by Samuel Montembeault, saw the Jets were beaten 5-1 by the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre.
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Jets’ Morgan Barron and Montreal Canadiens’ Alexandre Carrier collide in front of goaltender Samuel Montembeault in the first period.
“There have been so many ups and downs this year,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Moments where it looked like we had got our game going. I’ve liked what we’ve been doing for the last two or three weeks here, but this is now a stretch where you should take whatever it is, a week or whatever, and get away.
“Get your mind away from the game, reset, refocus.”
The Jets go into the Olympic break with a record of 22-26-8 and aren’t back in action until Feb. 25 when they open a three-game road trip against the Vancouver Canucks.
Once the games resume, the Jets will have a stretch of 26 games in 51 days as they try to keep their flickering playoff hopes in the Western Conference alive.
“It’s coming every other night,” said Arniel. “We start out on the road and we see a lot of the teams that are above us in the standings, especially early on in the first two weeks. So that’s the time for us to make hay. We’ve got to win hockey games.”
Let’s take a look at what else transpired in this one:
The chance
With the Jets up 1-0, Nino Niederreiter had a glorious chance to make it a two-goal cushion on a two-on-one rush with Vladislav Namestnikov.
Niederreiter got a good shot away, but Montembeault found a way to keep the puck out of the net, much to the chagrin of the Swiss winger.
“I mean I wish I could have gone upstairs a little better, but he did make a great save, and I wasn’t expecting he had that reach, like the way he had. But I kind of wanted to go where I (put) it,” said Niederreiter, who thought his team generated enough quality looks in the 37 shots on goal they generated. “Yeah, I do think it was one of their better games offensively, I would say, I mean we had definitely a lot of good looks, just couldn’t find a way to put them in.”
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Montreal Canadiens’ Oliver Kapanen (second right) celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with Ivan Demidov, left to right, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky in the first period of Montreal’s 5-1 win over Winnipeg, Wednesday.
The inability to extend the lead proved costly as Oliver Kapanen scored at 16:26 of the first period, igniting an offensive eruption that included five unanswered goals by the time Phillip Danault scored into the empty net with 13.2 seconds to go in regulation time.
“It would have been nice to get out of that first period up 1-0,” said Arniel. “But at the end of the day, we had enough offence to win that game. Our couple of mistakes went the other way and they captialized on their (scoring) chances.”
The key play
The Canadiens got goals from Josh Anderson and Lane Hutson 76 seconds apart in the second period to turn a tie game into an eventual rout.
THE THREE STARS
Samuel Montembeault, Canadiens. Made 36 saves, including 12 in the first period.
Brendan Gallagher, Canadiens. Scored a power play, chipped in two helpers.
Josh Anderson, Canadiens. Scored a goal, added an assist.
Powerful stuff
The Jets struck first in this contest, thanks to some crisp puck movement and inspired puck retrievals that allowed the power play to strike.
Ultimately, Gabe Vilardi got the puck down low and found Kyle Connor with a cross-ice pass for a one-timer at 6:07 of the first period.
It was Connor’s 25th goal of the campaign, but just his third on the power play.
The Jets have now scored with the man-advantage in consecutive games, which is an important development for a team that needs to improve in this area during the stretch run.
After being the most efficient power play in the NHL last season, the Jets are tied for 19th overall with the Chicago Blackhawks (at 19.1 per cent).
“It was one of those times where we were able to get some movement,” said Connor. “We were able to get some motion, creating havoc, trying to create switches, we were coming around the top and it’s tough to read as a defender when there are a lot of moving parts on the power play. Gabe was able to find a seam and make a great play to me.”
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson scores on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in the second period.
Connor has hit the 25-goal mark in nine consecutive seasons, though he’s treating this one the same as the first eight.
“I’m just focusing on being the best player that I can. I’ve never been one to focus on numbers per se,” he said.
That doesn’t mean the numbers aren’t impressive as Connor is up to 309 goals and 646 points in 669 games with the Jets.
Admiration shown
Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey is someone who takes pride in watching fellow blue-liners during some of his down time, so he was happy to share a few thoughts on Canadiens D-man Lane Hutson.
Hutson, in his second NHL season, has taken another important step in his development this season and was tied for seventh in the league in assists with 48 going into Wednesday’s action.
“Really since he came into the league, he’s been a lot of fun to watch. Super dynamic,” said Morrissey. “Obviously, his feet are incredible. His vision is incredible. You see some of the numbers that he’s putting up, in terms of assists and points, it’s pretty special.
“He makes a big impact on the game. Like with any good defenceman, you can’t take a breath or he’ll find a seam or he’ll cut back on you when you don’t think (he will). He’s fun to watch and definitely a great player.”
Hutson chipped in a goal on Wednesday to move to 58 points in 57 games this season, which leaves him third in the NHL among D-men behind Zach Werenski and Cale Makar.
Extra, extra
The Jets healthy scratches were defenceman Isaak Phillips and forward Tanner Pearson.
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeaul saves a shot by Winnipeg Jets’ Cole Perfetti as Jake Evans defends in the first period.
Following the game, the Jets planned to make a final decision about whether they were going to assign defencemen Elias Salomonsson and Phillips to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
The expectation was they were going to be assigned so that they could continue to participate in game action, since the Jets aren’t back on the ice until Feb. 17.
“We’ll talk about it after. Obviously we don’t want those two kids sitting,” said Arniel. “That’s probably what we’re going to do. There’s no need for those two to sit for three weeks.”
Former Jets sniper Patrik Laine participated in the morning skate, but didn’t suit up for the Canadiens, as he’s been limited to five games this season due to an abdominal injury.
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The Warm-Up
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
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