Canadiens show grit, but OT woes continue in 4-3 loss to the Jets
Drouin #Drouin
Pierre-Luc Dubois put an end to a freewheeling overtime period when he scored with 31 seconds remaining to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 win over the Canadiens Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
Corey Perry assured the Canadiens of at least a point when he deflected a shot by Jeff Petry that had already been tipped by Jonathan Drouin to tie the score wth 1:24 remaining in regulation time.
The Winnipeg Jets took advantage of mistakes by the Canadiens to score three goals.
A turnover by captain Shea Weber early in the third period led to Paul Stastny’s second goal of the game, as the second-place Jets ran their season record against Montreal to 3-0. Winnipeg opened a five-point lead over the fourth-place Canadiens in the Canadian division. Montreal, which is now 0-4 in 3-on-3 play, continues to struggle at home with a 4-5-1 record.
Winnipeg led the Canadiens 10-9 in shots on goal in the first period, but those numbers didn’t reflect the play. Winnipeg had a big edge in possession and took advantage of some sloppy play to grab a 2-0 lead.
Montreal was caught with a tired group of defenders after icing the puck and the Jets were able to cycle at will midway through the period. Blake Wheeler put a puck on net from the left wall and Stastny produced his sixth goal of the season.
Stastny, who also notched the overtime goal Saturday when the Jets beat the Canadiens 2-1, displayed a veteran move as he battled for position in front of the net. He stuck out his right skate and redirected Wheeler’s shot along the ice. There was a time in the past when the goal might have been reviewed, but a recent change in the rules allows skaters to turn their skates to redirect the puck as long as there isn’t a flagrant kicking motion.
The second goal was the result of a horrendous turnover by Tyler Toffoli in the Canadiens’ zone. His one-touch pass went to Winnipeg’s Mathieu Perreault who was able to skate in on Jake Allen and score on a backhander.
Brendan Gallagher gave the Canadiens some momentum when he scored on a power play midway through the second period to cut the Jets’ lead in half. Perry showed why he’ll be staying in the lineup after starting the season on the taxi squad when he set up Tomas Tatar in the slot. Tatar’s shot was blocked, but Gallagher beat Connor Hellebuyck on the rebound for his eighth of the season.
The Canadiens’ power play has four goals in eight opportunities since Alex Burrows took over from Kirk Muller.
Toffoli atoned for his earlier gaffe when he was in the right place at the right time to tie the game at 16:53. The Canadiens killed off a hooking penalty to Drouin, who came back to the ice to launch a shot from the point. The shot caromed off Nick Suzuki’s skate before going in off Toffoli’s skate. It was his 14th goal of the season. He’s tied with Connor McDavid for second place behind Auston Matthews (18).
Allen gave up more than two goals for only the second time this season, as his record dropped to 4-2-3.
phickey@postmedia.com
twitter.com/zababes1