Jets salvage single point in 3-2 OT loss to Habs

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The Winnipeg Jets weren’t at their best Monday against the Montreal Canadiens. But on a night when seemingly everything went against them — from referee rulings to puck luck to the special teams battle — they still managed to battle back from an early deficit and salvage something.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/12/2023 (659 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets weren’t at their best Monday against the Montreal Canadiens. But on a night when seemingly everything went against them — from referee rulings to puck luck to the special teams battle — they still managed to battle back from an early deficit and salvage something.

A 3-2 overtime loss certainly wasn’t the desired result, but players were opting to look at the glass being half-full.

“It’s moments like that that are key in a season; sticking to our game, trusting it and really solidifying our details and believing in the guys around you,” said Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
                                Winnipeg Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi scores on Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jake Allen during the second period.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Winnipeg Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi scores on Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jake Allen during the second period.

Winnipeg fell behind 2-0 late in the second period in somewhat controversial fashion, but rallied with goals from Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti to get it beyond regulation.

“It’s good to get a point. Obviously we would have wanted to get the win there but every point matters,” said Perfetti.

“It was a good team comeback to get that point, it’s big for us but obviously we don’t want to put ourselves in a 2-0 hole in the first place. Once we have momentum like that we want to be able to win that game, a little frustrating, it sucks but it’s the way it is.”

A tripping penalty to Nikolaj Ehlers proved costly as Justin Barron scored the winner on the ensuing power play just 69 seconds into the extra frame. It was the second power goal of the night for Montreal, while Winnipeg’s struggling power play went 0-for-2 and is now in a 1-for-21 rut.

“Honestly it comes down to special teams. It’s another game that we lost (the special teams battle) and that’s what cost us the extra point,” said coach Rick Bowness, who said an overhaul of his struggling special teams units may be in order.

“The 5-on-5 play is very, very good. The team play is very, very good. There’s too many games… I can count five or six games where we lost the game based on specialty teams.”

Winnipeg is now 18-9-3 on the year, including 6-1-1 in the past eight games. They also extended a franchise-record by going a 20th straight game without surrendering more than three goals. The Jets are also now 7-0-3 against Eastern Conference opponents.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
                                Montreal Canadiens’ Jake Evans checks Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk during the first period.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Montreal Canadiens’ Jake Evans checks Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk during the first period.

Montreal improves to 14-13-4.

Let’s break this one down further:

1) QUITE A “FEET”: Josh Anderson hasn’t been scoring much with his stick this season, as the Montreal power forward entered play Monday night with three goals in 30 games. Two of those actually came in his last outing against the New York Islanders. He opened the scoring against the Jets, going hard to the net and having a puck bounce in off his skate at 4:47 of the second period. Mike Matheson took the initial shot which was stopped by Hellebuyck, only to land in the perfect spot for Anderson. Hey, when you’re hot, you’re hot.

2) A HELPING HAND: Anderson and another part of his anatomy played a key part in the 2-0 goal, scored by Christian Dvorak at 15:04 of the second period. Anderson clearly had the primary assist, but the exact nature of that helper was put under a microscope. Anderson gloved a loose puck out of the air and batted it down, but it was difficult to tell in real time if he managed to get a stick on it first, or it it went straight to Dvorak which would have been ruled a hand pass. Officials briefly huddled and ruled it a good goal, which led to a coach’s challenge by the Jets. After a marathon review, the NHL determined that the original call stood. Winnipeg was given a delay-of-game penalty, which they killed.

“It’s a fine line. Him grabbing it and moving it changed what I was going to do. If he would have just dropped it right when he had it, I would have poked it right off his stick – that’s what I was getting prepared for. Then he threw it forward and it kind of threw me for a loop and made me kind of freeze and change what I wanted to do,” said Hellebuyck.

“Then he gets a lucky bounce as it bounces off the ice and just nicks the top of his stick. For me, I hate to see that go in. There’s not really much I can do about it.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
                                Montreal Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle checks Winnipeg Jets’ Mason Appleton during the second period.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Montreal Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle checks Winnipeg Jets’ Mason Appleton during the second period.

3) THE MACARENA: Vilardi had a good laugh following the morning skate when he was asked about his goal song — Macarena — which played for the first time at Canada Life Centre on Saturday when he scored his first two home goals of the year. “That was from my best friend back home (in Kingston). He recommended that one. I wasn’t sure what to do. The fans kind of liked it, huh? It’s a good song. It’s a good dance. I’m glad people are enjoying it.”

Fans got to enjoy it again Monday as Vilardi scored again, cutting Winnipeg’s deficit in half with 56 seconds left in the middle frame. It’s his fifth goal of the year, all coming in the last five games, as it gave the Jets a boost heading into the third period. Fun fact: Pierre-Luc Dubois also has five goals this year, over 27 games.

4) “GOAL” PERFETTI: A seven-game stretch without a point came to a sudden end for Perfetti, who notched his 10th of the year with 7:36 left in regulation to tie the game. You could see the relief on his face, especially after he’d hit the post earlier in the game.

“When you’re playing in those games, it’s a greasy goal you’re going to get. And you’ve got to get to the net,” Bowness said.

“There’s a perfect example of what happens when you get it down to the net, you’ve got to be there. Same as Gabe’s goal. You worked it low, take it to the net. They were sagging, they blocked about 26 shots or something tonight so it’s on us, too.”

5) OH, BROTHER: The latest battle of the Barron brothers ultimately went to Justin, with the Montreal defenceman ripping the winner past Hellebuyck during a 4-on-3 advantage in overtime. Morgan, the Jets forward, was on the ice at the time trying to kill the Ehlers minor, and their parents were in the stands watching,

Justin is now up to six goals on the season, which happens to be one more than his older sibling.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
                                Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jake Allen makes a save on Winnipeg Jets’ Morgan Barron as he is checked by Jesse Ylonen during the second period.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Jake Allen makes a save on Winnipeg Jets’ Morgan Barron as he is checked by Jesse Ylonen during the second period.

“Pretty cool. I wasn’t necessarily expecting to get on the ice there and then it’s funny how it works out. Definitely pretty special to do that,” Justin told reporters after the game.

“I’ll go see my family and say hi to them, but I can’t rub it in yet, I don’t think.”

6) EXTRA, EXTRA: Allen made 30 saves to record his first victory since Oct. 28 — which also came against the Jets, on home ice in a 4-3 shootout triumph. He had gone 0-6-1 since that time.

Hellebuyck finished with 23 stops.

Josh Morrissey suffered a deep cut to his cheek after deflecting a puck into his own face early in the third period. He immediately rushed off the ice and missed several shifts getting repairs.

“I just know that it’s going to be pretty swollen tomorrow. There’s a pretty good chance he’s going to have a good shiner. But give him full marks for coming back. He’s a tremendous competitor,” said Bowness.

Attendance was 13,363, meaning nearly 2,000 seats went unsold for the only visit of the year from Montreal.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade
                                Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia keeps is his eyes on the puck as he is checked by Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck looks on during the first period in Winnipeg, Monday.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia keeps is his eyes on the puck as he is checked by Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck looks on during the first period in Winnipeg, Monday.

The Jets will practise on Tuesday as they get ready to host Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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