The Montreal Canadiens won convincingly with 5 unanswered goals in a 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday to head into their Olympic break on a high note. A huge reason for the win was just how well Samuel Montembeault played early in the game, when it seemed like the Habs skaters didn’t bring their legs with them to Winnipeg. Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson led the way offensively as they each finished the night with a goal and 2 assists.

The #Habs defeated the #Jets 5–1, earning 5 of 6 possible points on their 3 game road trip.

The #Habs head into the Olympic break with a 32–17–8 record.

Thoughts?

Les Canadiens de Montréal ont battu les Jets de Winnipeg 5-1. #GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro pic.twitter.com/SeAsAa6wqc

— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) February 5, 2026

While the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard for the majority of the night, none of that would have been possible if Montembeault hadn’t been so stellar in the first half of the opening frame when the team needed him to bail them out. The Jets started the night by taking the first 9 shots on goal in the game. During that time, Montembeault was only beaten once, but the score could have easily been 3-0 if not for his big stops. His early play surely helped the Habs gain momentum for the rest of the game.

Montembeault finished the night with 36 saves on 37 shots, for his best performance of the season. He showed once again just how good a goalie coach Marco Marciano could be, as it seems that every time Montembeault works with the new Habs goalie coach, his game bounces back. It may just be one game, but the results so far are looking promising when looking at every time he has worked with Marciano.

Samuel Montembeault’s best game of the season.

He needed that.

The team needed that.

— Habs Chronicle (@HabsChronicle) February 5, 2026

As good as Montembeault was, if the Habs’ veteran line of Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, and Josh Anderson weren’t as good as they were against the Jets, the Canadiens likely wouldn’t have beaten them so handily. As mentioned above, Gallagher and Anderson each got a goal and 2 assists; their centre held things together defensively, as well as got an empty net marker himself. Danault finished the night winning the most faceoffs, going 12/18 on his draws. Anderson’s speedy forecheck was relentless as it continuously created offensive chances. While the line combined for 3 goals and 7 points, they easily could have had more themselves.

Kyle Connor rips home his 25th goal of the year 🎯

📺: Canadiens vs. Jets live on Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/xs6QKQIy2T

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 5, 2026

The Jets would open the scoring with a power play goal by Kyle Connor. The goal came from a nice passing play with Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi in which Connor completed it with a one-time wrister from inside the right faceoff circle. At that point, it felt like it may be a long night for the Habs leading into their Olympic break.

Big save by Montembeault on Niederreiter. pic.twitter.com/P3spKLcKKd

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 5, 2026

It would take Montembeault to stop a 2-on-1 chance a few minutes later, which seemed to be the turning point to give his teammates the motivation to get back into the game. One player who had a few early chances for the Habs was Oliver Kapanen, who missed on a few close opportunities early on. However, towards the end of the period, Kapanen would jump on a rebound from a Noah Dobson point shot to put it into the net and tie the game up with his 18th goal of the season. This goal would put Kapanen back in a tie for 1st in goals among rookies with Beckett Sennecke.

Regardless of what you think Kapanen’s ceiling is

The guy knows where to go to score goals.

Really excited to see how he holds up at the Olympics against the top tier talent pic.twitter.com/6OrCU60byA

— Cam (@Cweitz99) February 5, 2026

Despite being outplayed by the Jets for most of the first period, the Habs were able to escape their worst period of the night being tied. In the 2nd period, the Canadiens would step on the gas and really get going.

Josh Anderson donne les devants aux Canadiens en déviant le tir de Jayden Struble! #GoHabsGo c. #GoJetsGo sur RDS 📺 pic.twitter.com/g2yzJ3FNF5

— RDS (@RDSca) February 5, 2026

Jayden Struble, who made his return to the lineup after missing the previous 5 games, would shoot a puck towards the net, which Anderson would get his stick on to tip the puck past Connor Hellebuyck and give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead. Getting that goal was a great way for Anderson to celebrate playing his 400th game as a Hab. The game as a whole turned out to be memorable for the veteran forward.

LANE HUTSON, HOW ARE YA?! 🤩

📺: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/ipkdzAoZ7i

— NHL (@NHL) February 5, 2026

A little more than a minute after his goal, Anderson and Gallagher would help set up Lane Hutson for a goal on a fast break. The play started in the defensive zone before Gallagher would bounce a pass off the boards to a speeding Anderson to get the puck into the offensive zone. As Anderson got into the zone, he would launch a cross-ice backhand pass to a pinching Hutson, who was going straight to the net. Hutson would gain full control of the puck at the side of the net before swiftly shooting it over a small crack between the crossbar and Hellebuyck’s shoulder to make it a 3-1 game. It was the type of goal that Cole Caufield often scores from in tight.

After their 3rd goal, the Canadiens were officially in the driver’s seat as they wouldn’t force chances but would instead wait for the right time to strike following that goal. Meanwhile, Montembeault was continuing to play stellar hockey at the other end of the ice for the Habs. In terms of the chances, it was mostly back and forth for the rest of the game, but Montembeault coming up clutch made a big difference as a whole.

Brendan Gallagher scores in back-to-back games.

It’s his 6th of the season. pic.twitter.com/4iAcPPnLuT

— William Dubé (@williamdube_) February 5, 2026

The next time the Habs would score would be on the power play in the 3rd period. With time winding down on the man advantage, Zack Bolduc would feed the puck up to Kirby Dach at the side of the net. Dach would then slide it over to Gallagher, who put the puck past Hellebuyck with just 3 seconds left on the power play to give the Canadiens a 4-1 lead. With an assist on the play, Dach extended his point streak to 4 games, where he has put up 2 goals and 5 points in that time.

Phil Danault’s 4th of the season… assisted by the linesman? pic.twitter.com/oRJBRja6QF

— William Dubé (@williamdube_) February 5, 2026

Both Montembeault and the Canadiens would remain strong the rest of the way, not allowing the Jets to get on the board late for any hopes of a comeback. The Jets even had a 6-on-4 power play in the last 1:48 of the game, but they couldn’t solve Montembeault. However, Danault would get an empty goal with 15 seconds left after a dump-out hit a ref and the puck went straight onto Danault’s stick, allowing him an easy path to put it in.

It wasn’t a perfect game for the Canadiens, but thanks to great goaltending and good depth lower in the lineup, they were able to get the job done with their convincing 5-1 victory against a struggling Jets team. With the victory, the Habs have now improved to 32-17-8 and enter their Olympic break with 72 points, which is good for being tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Division with the Detroit RedWings, 2 points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, and 3 points above the Boston Bruins.

Canadiens finish the night in second place in the Atlantic Division after Red Wings loss to Mammoth. They’ll remain there through the Olympic break if Buffalo loses to Pittsburgh Thursday.

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 5, 2026

The majority of the Habs players will be off until Sunday, February 22nd, when the team will have their Skills Competition at the Bell Centre. However, it is possible that Nick Suzuki (Canada), Oliver Kapanen, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Alexandre Texier could still be in Milan at the Olympics, as the Gold Medal game is scheduled for the same day (realistically only Suzuki and Kapanen have a chance to be in that game). Nonetheless, the break should do well for some players who are nursing minor injuries during this condensed schedule. The Habs’ next game will only be on February 26th, when they face the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre.

How do you feel about the Habs so far this season?