In their first meeting since Montreal swept Winnipeg in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, the Jets exacted some revenge with an 8-4 win, but they certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves.
The Jets scored the first four goals of the game, but the Canadiens roared back, scoring four straight times themselves to even up the score, only for the Jets to score four unanswered goals to close out a wild hockey game.
“That was a crazy game,” said Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. “A lot of backs and forths, mistakes, penalties.”
The Jets scored on four of their first six shots of the game, but didn’t register another shot the rest of the opening period.
“We were on the wrong side of a comeback in Colorado, so tonight, to keep going and not panic too much,” said Dubois. “It feels really good, and at this point of the year, we’re going to take the two points, and be happy with it.”
The Edmonton Oilers also won on Tuesday, so the Jets are now five points out of a playoff spot.
The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Jets who ended the Canadiens five-game winning streak.
Josh Anderson had a hat trick for the Canadiens in the loss, while Mark Scheifele recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat trick (Goal, assist, and fight) after recording two goals and one assist, while getting in a scrap with Chris Wideman late in the third period.
“First and last,” said Scheifele. “I definitely wasn’t looking to go fight out there. It was just one of those things, kinda spur of the moment.
“I wasn’t really expecting it to happen, but you always have to think there’s always going to be something that could happen.”
After the fight, Scheifele raised his arms to try to pump up the fans as he skated to the penalty box.
“That might be the only time I’d ever be able to try to pump up the crowd after a fight,” he said.
With the game tied at four apiece in the second period, Connor Hellebuyck made a key save on a penalty shot to deny Rem Pitlick, swinging the momentum back into the Jets’ favour.
“That’s a huge turning point, right, when you’re talking about momentum in games,” said head coach Dave Lowry. “We come back right after that and score, and that was a huge moment in the game.”
Dubois and Kyle Connor also had three point efforts, while Adam Lowry scored again. After going 25 straight games without a single tally, he now has markers in three straight, and four of the last six games overall.
It was also a very successful night for the Jets powerplay, connecting on four of their six opportunities with the man advantage.
“Everybody knows your powerplay is your top players,” said Lowry. “If you’re having success on the powerplay, usually your top players are dialed in, and for us, that was the case tonight.”
Scheifele scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season for his seventh straight 20-goal campaign.
It was the second time this season the Jets scored eight goals in a game after an 8-4 win over the New Jersey Devils in December.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler appeared in his 800th game with the franchise.
Andrew Copp scored a goal in his return to the lineup after missing the past six games with a concussion.
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The home side did not waste much time in getting on the board. Nate Schmidt found Evgeny Svechnikov parked alone in front of the Montreal net and tapped home his sixth of the season just 5:21 into the first. It’s the third straight game in which Svechnikov has scored.
Before that line even came off the ice, they made it 2-0. Dubois found Schmidt at the point and he blasted a shot that squeezed through the five-hole of Sam Montembeault just 36 seconds after the opener.
Then the parade to the penalty box began.
Dylan DeMelo took an interference penalty at the 6:35 mark. 33 seconds later, Anderson was sent off for tripping. 62 seconds after that, Brenden Dillon was called for tripping, giving the Habs a brief 4-on-3 power play.
But as DeMelo came out of the box, he collected the puck and broke free on a 2-on-1 with Lowry. DeMelo hit Lowry with a perfect pass and the red-hot third-liner deked out Montembeault.
Moments later, Montreal’s Brett Kulak was called for holding, giving Winnipeg a short-lived 4-on-3. Right after it became 4-on-4, Scheifele ripped one past the overwhelmed Montreal netminder to make it 4-0 Winnipeg just 9:13 into the game.
The large contingent of Montreal fans in attendance were left dumbfounded for the first half of the period, but they had plenty to celebrate in the latter half.
Anderson got the Canadiens on the board at the 11:18 mark as momentum began to swing in the visitor’s favour.
Anderson’s second of the period came on the power play at the 17:00 mark to cut the lead in half, banging home a juicy rebound off the pad of Hellebuyck. Just 88 seconds later Artturi Lehkonen beat Hellebuyck five-hole to cut the lead to one.
Yes, we’re still in the first period.
Nathan Beaulieu was called for roughing with just over a minute left in the opening frame, but for the second time in the period Anderson was called for tripping while his team had the man advantage.
Montreal finished the crazy first period with a 14-6 edge in shots as Winnipeg did not get a shot on goal after taking a 4-0 lead.
Anderson finished off the hat trick at the 4:08 mark of the second when he polished off a 3-on-1 by roofing the puck past Hellebuyck to tie the game 4-4. Several hats hit the ice in Winnipeg as Anderson recorded his first career three-goal game in the NHL.
The Jets held on for dear life as Montreal continued to carry the bulk of the play before Jeff Petry put Winnipeg on the power play late in the second thanks to a high-sticking penalty.
But Pitlick got free on a shorthanded breakaway, and right before he could get a shot off, he was slashed by Dubois, and a penalty shot was called, much to the chagrin of a crowd that had been very quiet as Winnipeg saw its lead evaporate.
Pitlick was unable to beat Hellebuyck on the penalty shot, and it proved to be a turning point because just 18 seconds later, Copp wired a wrist shot past Montembeault to restore Winnipeg’s lead.
The Jets got some breathing room early in the third when Scheifele got his 20th of the season on yet another power play. Montembeault was caught out of his net and Scheifele, from below the goal line, banked it in off former teammate Ben Chiarot.
A few minutes later, Brendan Gallagher took his second penalty of the period and for the second time, he had to watch from the box as the Jets scored. Dubois finished off an odd-man rush with a great shot that knocked Montembeault out of the game after allowing seven goals on 23 shots.
Montreal thought for a brief moment they had cut the lead to two at the midway point of the third, but officials immediately waved off the goal because Gallagher kicked the puck over the goal line.
With the game out of reach, Wideman went after Scheifele and the two got into a brief scrap as the Habs were called for a too-many-men penalty. Paul Stastny scored on the ensuing power play to make it 8-4 with 2:34 to go.
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Winnipeg finished the game 4-for-6 on the power play while the Habs scored once on six tries.
Hellebuyck settled in after a rough start, making 31 saves for the win. The Jets will try to make it three straight victories when they host Dallas Friday night.
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