Stastny scores in 1st minute of OT, Jets beat Canadiens 2-1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Paul Stastny scored in the first minute of overtime to give Winnipeg a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, extending the Jets’ winning streak to four games.

“I think overtime is a crapshoot, especially three-on-three, right? So, you might as well just go out there and play aggressive,” Stastny said.

Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Winnipeg, which won the game despite being outshot 41-21. Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves.

“I was able to get into a good flow. I thought the guys in front of me blocked a lot of key shots tonight and really controlled where the shots were coming from. Not only that, but we were controlling the rebounds. I think the whole team’s defense was very solid down our middle tonight,” Hellebuyck said.

Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal. Jake Allen made 19 saves in the loss.

Montreal’s winless streak is now at five games. The streak includes back-to-back losses to the Jets. Montreal held a 3-1 lead on Winnipeg on Thursday night before the Jets scored five unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 win.

Despite the loss, Suzuki said coach Dominique Ducharme told the team they were heading in the right direction and that they deserved better Saturday night.

“I thought we played a great game. Outshot them a lot, had a lot of chances. Just didn’t come out on the right side of the scoreboard,” Suzuki said.

While the teams played to a scoreless draw in the first period, Montreal doubled Winnipeg’s shot total, leading 14-7.

Neither team took a penalty until the second period when each had a pair of minors, with Jeff Petry serving time for both of Montreal’s infractions.

As Petry sat in the box for his second penalty, Ehlers opened the scoring with a power-play goal. Jets forward Andrew Copp won a faceoff in the offensive zone and flicked the puck behind him. Ehlers sent a shot past Allen for his 11th of the season.

Suzuki answered with his fifth of the season nearly five minutes later. The goal was unassisted.

“It was one of those goals that you could do 99 out of 100 (times) it’s not going to go in. I got caught on the one, which seems to be a theme this year.” Hellebuyck said.

The Canadiens and Jets remained deadlocked in the third, but it was Montreal who applied most of the pressure. The Canadiens outshot the Jets in every period, including the third where they led 14-2.

As the game headed into overtime it took Stastny only 36 seconds to get the puck past Allen and give the Jets the win. Ehlers fired a shot on net that was trickling toward the goal line after it beat Allen and Stastny then pushed it in.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Jets: Host Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday nights.

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