Coincidence or not, the Montreal Canadiens delivered their most complete performance in some time on Wednesday, beating the visiting Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in a shootout on the same night they honored Andrei Markov. Whether the ex-Habs defender inspired the home side or not, they will take it on the back of their two consecutive defeats as Cole Caufield scored the lone shootout goal while goalkeeper Jakub Dobes made 29 saves to secure the hard-fought victory.
Summary of the game
To be clear, it wasn’t a perfect match by any means. The Jets, who struggled so much that they had a meeting behind closed doors a few days ago, after a loss to the Buffalo Sabres, he retained possession of the ball in the offensive zone for extended periods of time on several occasions. That was never more apparent than on the Jets’ second goal, when the newly reformed Canadiens top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, the latter having lost his stick no less, was on the ice for more than two minutes.
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Slafkovsky’s lost stick also played a role in the action. Mark Scheifele’s pass hit the stick on its way to Gabriel Vilardi behind the net. Vilardi promptly found an open Kyle Connor to beat Dobes to make the score 2-1. To the Canadiens’ credit, it was a rare defensive mistake likely exacerbated by their fatigue and inability to get new bodies on the ice.
That said, on the Jets’ first goal to open the scoring, Connor outwitted defenseman Noah Dobson on his way to the net late in the first. Dobson’s partner, Mike Matheson, compensated to move Connor out of scoring position. However, Connor did find a streaking Scheifele in the slot, as Dobson did not recover in time. Scheifele, who was met with a chorus of boos when he touched the puck, as had become tradition in Montreal 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffsmade no mistake in burying it at close range.
Slafkovsky answered on the power play midway through the second, beautifully set up by Suzuki and a one-touch pass from Caufield on the power play. After Connor scored the go-ahead a few minutes later, Oliver Kapanen equalized after an equally beautiful pass from Ivan Demidov, who equalized. rookie scoring leader Beckette Sennecke of the Anaheim Ducks with his 20th point of the campaign with the assist.
Overall, despite the extended stay in their own zone, the Canadiens undeniably had a huge advantage in high-quality shots on net (and perhaps overall play), as goaltender Eric Comrie made 29 saves of his own to keep the Jets in this zone, despite their 26 giveaways (compared to 15), many of which led to scoring chances.
It was quite an effort for both struggling teams, but a huge win for the Canadiens, who had suffered a demoralizing and embarrassing loss to the Ottawa Senators the night before. Based on that alone, playing their second game in two nights against a relatively rested opponent, the Habs should be pleased with the way they performed, especially with Markov’s presence. Now on 14-9-3 they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. With their first loss in the extra frame this season, the Jets fell to 13-12-1. They host the Sabers on Friday as they seek redemption for their previous loss earlier this week.
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