Jets @ Montreal Canadiens 3-1 - Saturday, February 18, 2017
The Montreal Canadiens lost Claude Julien's first game as coach, 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell Centre. Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine scored in the third period to break a 1-1 tie. Julien, who was fired by the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, was hired by the Canadiens the previous Tuesday. Montreal has one win in its past eight games (1-6-1). Montreal took advantage of a turnover by Ben Chiarot to take a 1-0 lead at 11:04 of the first. Andrei Markov drove to the net to tap in a pass from Max Pacioretty on the right side. Joel Armia scored a shorthanded goal at 4:52 of the second period to tie it 1-1. Perreault put the Jets ahead 2-1 at 1:16 with a backhand shot past Carey Price from the slot. Laine scored his 28th goal into an empty net with 1:17 remaining. Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for Winnipeg (27-29-5), which has five points in its past three games (2-0-1) after losing four straight. Price made 30 saves for Montreal (31-20-8), which extended its losing streak to three in its first game since changing coaches during its five-day break. Julien signed a five-year contract to replace Therrien, who was fired after Montreal went 1-5-1 in the seven games preceding its five-day break. Julien first replaced Therrien during the 2002-03 season.
* Armia deked Price on a breakaway to score after stripping the puck from Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the neutral zone.
* Hellebuyck made a save on Nathan Beaulieu's shot off a cross-ice pass by Alex Galchenyuk on the power play in the second period to keep it tied.
* Dustin Byfuglien carried the puck along the right boards and somehow made a centering pass with three Canadiens converged on him to set up Perreault's goal.
* Jets center Mark Scheifele won 11-of-18 faceoffs and drew praise from Maurice for bouncing back with a strong effort after he was on the ice for the losing goal in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
* Julien moved Galchenyuk to the third line in the third period after he started at center on the top line with Pacioretty and right wing Alexander Radulov.
"We were on the right side of pucks and we were battling. We battled the entire night and our forecheck was good." Connor Hellebuyck
"That was huge [Armia's goal]. You know, it starts it up. We were playing a great game until then and then he ties it up, and from there we just feel like we took over."
"I didn't even really see it. I saw the replay and it was an awesome pass. Honestly, it came to me and I just whacked it in." Perreault said
"It's a continuation. We've had three really, really strong games, and more of the same tonight. They're almost identical games that we've played, really strong with our gap, not giving the other team a whole lot, and getting enough offense. The time of year says you're probably not going to see the 7-6 games anymore and you're going to get into the 2-1 games, and we were comfortable with that." Paul Maurice.
Jets @ Ottawa Senators 3-2 - Sunday, February 19, 2017
The Winnipeg Jets' push for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs gathered momentum with a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Dustin Byfuglien, Mathieu Perreault and Josh Morrissey scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves to help Winnipeg (28-29-5) extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1) and moved within one point of the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Mark Stone and Zack Smith scored, and Mike Condon made 17 saves for Ottawa (31-20-6). The Senators are in second place in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Montreal Canadiens with two games in hand. Before the game, Senators coach Guy Boucher said forward Bobby Ryan would be out indefinitely because of an injury to his right index finger. Top-six forwards Mike Hoffman and Stone each left the game Sunday, and forward Tommy Wingels also left in the third period after he was hit by Byfuglien. Hoffman left after the first period because of a lower-body injury, and Stone left at 6:42 of the third period after he was hit by Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba, who was assessed a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head. The Jets are 2-0-1 on their four-game road trip, which wraps up Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, their final game before a six-day break. Byfuglien scored 1:09 into the game, and Perreault made it 2-0 at 12:28 of the first. Stone scored on the power play at 5:10 of the second period to make it 2-1. Morrissey scored at 2:33 of the third period, and Smith made it 3-2 at 5:05 when a pass deflected in off his skate.
* Byfuglien took a pass from Mark Scheifele and scored his ninth goal of the season at 1:09 of the first period.
* Hellebuyck got his left pad on the puck with four seconds left in the third period as Pageau jammed by the right post. A video review was inconclusive. "We couldn't see the puck if it was in or not, but I was pretty sure [Hellebuyck's] pad got jammed into the net pretty hard that even if it had crossed the line it was going to be goalie interference," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
* Perreault scored for the second game in a row after some deft passing by Patrik Laine and Scheifele set him up alone in front of Condon. He swung the puck around the Senators goaltender and tucked in a backhand for his sixth goal of the season.
* Jets forward Adam Lowry played 14:54 (2:49 shorthanded), had three shots (another was blocked), four hits and was 8 of 13 (62 percent) in the faceoff circle.
* Boucher dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards. After Hoffman was injured, defenseman Fredrik Claesson moved up to play forward. … Stone's goal on the power play was the 14th on home ice this season. They entered the game ranked 28th at home with the man-advantage.
"I liked it a lot. We were doing the little things right again. I know I talk about that a lot, but it really makes a difference in the game. Getting sticks on pucks when they are about to shoot, it really changes my game. It also helps that we blocked a lot of shots tonight and a lot of key shots. You can go around the room and find a couple of bruises on each guy."
"That was guaranteed out. My pad was there and then he pushed my pad in and I got my glove right behind it. I'm kind of confused why the crowd was getting into it." Hellebuyck said.
Jake Gardiner scored with 2:29 remaining in overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-4 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Air Canada Centre. Leo Komarov scored twice, and Auston Matthews had three assists to reach 52 points.
It was the second and final regular-season game between Matthews and Jets forward Patrik Laine, the top two picks in the 2016 NHL Draft, this season.
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves for the Maple Leafs (28-20-11), who won their second in a row. Toronto moved into third place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins. Toronto tied it 4-4 at 3:30 of the third period when William Nylander put in a rebound off the end boards from a Matthews shot. Laine scored twice to reach 30 goals for the Jets (28-29-6). He leads all NHL rookies with 54 points. Komarov put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 1:02 of the first period. Laine one-timed a cross-ice pass from Mark Scheifele at 4:25 to tie it 1-1, and Winnipeg took a 2-1 lead at 10:33 with a power-play goal by Bryan Little, who put a rebound from a Dustin Byfuglien point shot past Andersen at the top of the crease. Little deflected a Byfuglien point shot past Andersen from the high slot at 19:55 but the goal was disallowed after it was ruled Little touched the puck with a high stick. Toronto tied it 2-2 at 15:52 of the second period when Nazem Kadri fooled Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand on a partial breakaway for his 25th. Nikolaj Ehlers scored his 20th to give the Jets a 3-2 lead at 17:24 when he tipped a Josh Morrissey point shot. Komarov scored his second of the game on a power play at 19:28 to tie it 3-3. Laine scored at 19:57 to give Winnipeg a 4-3 lead.
* Nylander controlled the puck and skated deep into the zone before finding Komarov with a cross-ice pass through the slot for a one-timer.
"It was right there for us, but we just couldn't hang on to it there in the third. I think we were running on fumes a little bit, but guys battled hard tonight." Blake Wheeler said.
"We don't talk to Patrik Laine anymore; we just talk to everybody else and tell them to give him the puck."
"What a special, special talent. [Laine's] a good man too, he's a good young kid. He's got lots of room to get stronger. He's strong now, but this guy's got another 10 to 15 pounds to put on his back and legs, and when that happens, he's going to get all of the shots he wants off." Paul Maurice said.
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves for the Maple Leafs (28-20-11), who won their second in a row. Toronto moved into third place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins. Toronto tied it 4-4 at 3:30 of the third period when William Nylander put in a rebound off the end boards from a Matthews shot. Laine scored twice to reach 30 goals for the Jets (28-29-6). He leads all NHL rookies with 54 points. Komarov put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 1:02 of the first period. Laine one-timed a cross-ice pass from Mark Scheifele at 4:25 to tie it 1-1, and Winnipeg took a 2-1 lead at 10:33 with a power-play goal by Bryan Little, who put a rebound from a Dustin Byfuglien point shot past Andersen at the top of the crease. Little deflected a Byfuglien point shot past Andersen from the high slot at 19:55 but the goal was disallowed after it was ruled Little touched the puck with a high stick. Toronto tied it 2-2 at 15:52 of the second period when Nazem Kadri fooled Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand on a partial breakaway for his 25th. Nikolaj Ehlers scored his 20th to give the Jets a 3-2 lead at 17:24 when he tipped a Josh Morrissey point shot. Komarov scored his second of the game on a power play at 19:28 to tie it 3-3. Laine scored at 19:57 to give Winnipeg a 4-3 lead.
* Gardiner could not glove down a loose puck, leaving Wheeler with a partial breakaway. Andersen kept his left pad on the ice at 5:40 of the second period to keep the score 2-1.
* Laine set up in the high slot and took a pass from Scheifele behind the net that he one-timed through traffic to restore Winnipeg's lead.
* Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak won 14 of 21 faceoffs (67 percent).
* Matthews, 19, became the second teenager in Maple Leafs history to score at least 50 points in a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Ted Kennedy had 54 points (29 gaols, 25 assists) as a 19-year-old in 1944-45 (49 games played). ... Laine became the first rookie in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to score 30 goals in a season. Laine is the fifth rookie in the past 25 seasons to score 30 goals in 55 or fewer games played, according to Elias. ... Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick left the game at 9:08 of the first period with an upper-body injury. Babcock said Carrick will likely miss time and defenseman Alexey Marchenko will get an opportunity to play Thursday against the New York Rangers. He has not played since being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings Feb. 4.
"It was right there for us, but we just couldn't hang on to it there in the third. I think we were running on fumes a little bit, but guys battled hard tonight." Blake Wheeler said.
"We don't talk to Patrik Laine anymore; we just talk to everybody else and tell them to give him the puck."
"What a special, special talent. [Laine's] a good man too, he's a good young kid. He's got lots of room to get stronger. He's strong now, but this guy's got another 10 to 15 pounds to put on his back and legs, and when that happens, he's going to get all of the shots he wants off." Paul Maurice said.
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