The Winnipeg Jets walked away with a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. In front of a sold-out crowd on Hockey Night in Canada, there was plenty to take away from a highly entertaining contest full of storylines.
Connor Hellebuyck stays away from “Patty Flu”
This game was Patrik Laine’s first game in Winnipeg as a member of the Canadiens, and after the morning skate, he mentioned the lack of Connor Hellebuyck the past times he had faced the Jets.
“The last two times I’ve been here, I don’t think he’s played,” Laine said. “He’s had the Patty flu. I mean, it’s understandable.”
Hellebuyck responded by making a handful of incredible saves this evening, stopping 26 of 28 shots thrown his way, including a few of Laine’s one-timer from the left circle that the folks in Winnipeg have seen a time or two.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
After the game, Hellebuyck mentioned that he could stay away from the “Patty Flu” on this night.
“No flu tonight,” Hellebuyck said. “He had a lot of shots tonight. He’s a good shooter. But nothing for him.”
Hellebuyck’s best save of the evening came from a Laine one-timer, where the puck popped into the air, and Hellebucyk had to bat it out of the crease before the Canadiens players pounced on the rebound.
Jets’ star defenceman Josh Morrissey was complimentary of his goaltender post-game, noting that he’s seen this a time or two.
“He’s unbelievable, the best goalie in the league in my view,” Morrissey said. “I get to see it every night and probably take it for granted when you watch it over and over and over again. I was reminiscing about that the other day. I think when I played my 600th game, I was thinking about how I probably played about 500 at least with him in the net. That’s pretty lucky as a player. He makes it look easy, but I guarantee it’s not. Just a special, special talent, and really a generational goalie in my view.”
It was Hellebuyck’s league-leading 19th win of the season, to go along with his .926 SV% and a 2.11 GAA.
Jets’ second line impresses
The Jets’ second-line of Perfetti-Namestnikov-Chibrikov failed to get on the scoresheet, but they won their minutes on this night and were impressive once again.
They outshot the Habs 7-2 at five-on-five, controlled 69.37% of the expected goals, and out-chanced the Canadiens 9-4.
They outworked their opponent on every shift, which often led to extended o-zone time and opportunities to score. Scott Arniel recognized their hard-working ability after the game.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“Yeah. And that’s been those guys’ MO. Even when (Ehlers) is with those guys. They’re not all big guys and they’re not all physical guys but they use their quickness to steal pucks and then got in there and they look to score in different ways. That line tonight, I thought in the first period, was one of our best lines. And they were going against the Dach line and I think they were looking up at every one of those guys… those are some big bodies, heavy guys, and I thought they did a fantastic job getting zone time and getting those looks.”
It will be a topic to follow over this week as to whether or not Nikita Chibrikov remains with the Jets beyond Ehlers’ return. His career goal-scoring streak of three goals in three games came to an end on this night, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances.
Special teams lead the Jets to victory
While the Jets and Habs played a relatively even game at five-on-five, the special teams powered the Jets to victory, as they went 2-for-6 on the power play and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
When asked about what went right for Winnipeg on this night, Morrissey pointed to the special teams as the driving factor.
“Special teams were great,” Josh Morrissey said. “The power play was awesome. Our penalty kill was outstanding. I thought we did a better job of not giving them as much free offence as we have in the last few games. They are a highly skilled group over there. If you give them zones and easy entries and room to use their skill, obviously, it came out a few times tonight, but obviously, they get paid to play the game too, so I thought we did a good job overall. It was a huge win.”
After tonight, the Jets sit in second place in power play percentage at 30.1% and 21st in penalty kill percentage at 77.5%. Special teams have been a huge key to Winnipeg’s early-season success, and that was no different in Saturday’s win over Montreal.
Up next
The Jets will now hit the road for a short two-game west coast road trip to take on the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks before returning home for a Saturday night contest against the Minnesota Wild.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the news you need regarding the Jets and Moose.
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