Tyler Toffoli scores in overtime as Montreal Canadiens complete sweep of Winnipeg Jets

Associated Press Published 11:44 p.m. ET June 7, 2021

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MONTREAL – Tyler Toffoli scored at 1:39 of overtime, lifting the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night and a four-game sweep of their second-round playoff series.

Toffoli took a cross-crease pass from Cole Caufield and beat Connor Hellebuyck with a one-timer for the winner and his fourth goal of the postseason.

Erik Gustafsson and Artturi Lehkonen scored in regulation for Montreal, which has won seven consecutive playoff games since trailing Toronto 3-1 in the opening round. Toffoli, who scored 28 times in the regular season, also had an assist.

Carey Price made 14 saves for the North Division’s No. 4 seed in front of another boisterous crowd of 2,500 fans at the Bell Centre.

Montreal Canadiens right wing Tyler Toffoli, the overtime goal scorer, leaps into the arms of Corey Perry, left.

 (Photo: Jean-Yves Ahern, USA TODAY Sports)

The 16th and final team to qualify for the playoffs after winning just one of their final nine regular-season games in regulation, the Canadiens are the first club to make the semifinals of the Stanley Cup tournament this year.

Montreal awaits the winner of the Colorado-Vegas series, which is tied 2-2. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Denver.

The Canadiens improved to 34-0 all-time when leading a series 3-0, and added to their NHL record with the franchise’s 23rd sweep.

Rookie defenseman Logan Stanley had two goals for Winnipeg, which was coming of a sweep of its own in the first round against Edmonton. The Jets were without No. 1 center Mark Scheifele after he was suspended four games for charging Montreal forward Jake Evans in the series opener.

Hellebuyck stopped 39 shots.

Montreal opened the scoring on the power play at 8:01 of the first period on Gustafsson’s first career playoff goal, and first with the Canadiens since being acquired from Philadelphia before the trade deadline. After Winnipeg’s Nate Thompson failed to get the puck out of his own zone, the Canadiens worked it back to Gustafsson, who pump-faked a one-timer before changing the angle and firing through a screen on Hellebuyck.

Montreal made it 2-0 with 51 seconds left in the period when Lehkonen won a battle for positioning in front – something Winnipeg was unable to do at either end of the ice throughout the series – and tipped Brett Kulak’s point shot for his second goal in as many games.

Stanley cut the Jets’ deficit to 2-1 when he took a pass and moved down to the left circle before wiring a shot upstairs on Price’s short side just 1:40 into the second.

Stanley, who had only one NHL goal before Monday, tied it at 2 at 5:29 moments after Hellebuyck made a nice save on Brendan Gallagher when he took a pass from Kyle Connor after coming off the bench and beat Price upstairs on a one-timer.

The Canadiens were without D Jeff Petry (upper-body injury) after he appeared to jam his right hand caught in one of the camera holes along the glass in Game 3. The veteran’s absence paved the way for rookie Alexander Romanov to make his NHL playoff debut on Montreal’s third pairing.

NOTES: Montreal’s seven-game playoff winning streak is the franchise’s longest since Patrick Roy led the Canadiens to 11 consecutive victories on the way to capturing Canada’s last Cup in 1993. … The Jets are 1-6 when facing elimination since the move to Winnipeg in 2011.

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