A Price-less loss for Jets

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This article was published 02/11/2015 (3611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — Can one miserable outing make the Winnipeg Jets’ solid start to the NHL season look like it might be a house of cards?

You could be forgiven if the thought at least crossed your mind, but such is the spit-it-out flavour of the team’s 5-1 defeat at the hands of the league-leading Montreal Canadiens Sunday night at Bell Centre.

Where did that come from?

Maybe the Jets caught something Saturday night while they were beating the Blue Jackets 3-2 in Columbus?

Was it just a product of playing on a second straight night, though that would seem the lamest of excuses given the team was two for two in October when asked to do the same thing?

A bad start and no responses seemed to be the consensus after the team’s second forgettable performance of the season and its first drubbing.

Only Jets winger Chris Thorburn beat Montreal rookie goalie Mike Condon, that with 6:03 to play in a game that had about 35 minutes of garbage time once the home team forged ahead 4-0.

Montreal started Condon after announcing earlier in the day last season’s Hart Trophy winner, goalie Carey Price, was out a week or so with a lower-body injury.

With the win, Montreal raised its season mark to 11-2-0. It has won six of the seven meetings here against the Jets 2.0.

Oh, that start

QUICKNESS was the early issue in this game.

The Jets spent much time swatting at pucks that weren’t there anymore and reaching for Habs that were zooming away.

The period ended just 2-0 for Montreal. The home team’s only fault was likely not putting enough pucks on net, recording just six shots.

Good night, Hutch

THE Habs drove starter Michael Hutchinson from the game three minutes into the second period with two more goals on the rush, Tomas Fleischmann’s second of the game and David Desharnais’ first goal and third point of the night.

That was four goals on nine shots, as Ondrej Pavelec took over the mess.

Hutchinson fell to 4-1-0 on the season with his first defeat, while the Jets dropped to 7-4-1, still their best 12-game start since 2011.

Heading south

IN the first, Montreal was whistled for three penalties in the first 9:41, an opportunity the Jets fumbled into disadvantage.

Winnipeg’s first power play was ineffective.

The second was slow in making the right plays and when Torrey Mitchell flipped a won puck to the neutral zone, speedy Paul Byron chased it down and deposited the breakaway past Hutchinson for Montreal’s first goal and first shot at 6:34.

The Habs were also called for too many men a short time later, but the Jets didn’t come close even once to beating Condon.

One thump

Since the silver-lining crowd is always looking for something, how about this?

Anthony Peluso’s second-period lambasting of Montreal defenceman Andrei Markov was both heavy and legal. Yes, the game was already 4-0, but Markov made the play to move the puck, then got up from the check objecting to Peluso’s action.

Too hard, one supposes.

Flamboyant, generous teammate P.K. Subban was also giving Peluso an earful and no doubt the Jets winger was only looking for some sort of provocative motion and he’d have gladly dropped his gloves against either of the Habs’ top two defenders.

It was Markov, the wise pro, who in the end talked Subban down from the edge and a risky skirmish.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca