The Jets arrive in Montreal with the kind of skid that changes the mood around a team fast. Winnipeg has dropped nine straight, losing the first three games of this four-game road trip and the six before that, and the numbers tell the story as plainly as the standings do: they’ve been outscored 37-16 during the slide.
It hasn’t been one issue, either. The Jets have struggled to produce at five-on-five, their power play has gone cold, and an ineffective penalty kill has only made the climb steeper. When the special teams battle goes the wrong way and the goals against keep piling up, wins are hard to come by.
Montreal, on the other hand, walks in with momentum. The Canadiens have won five in a row, have been the NHL’s best team at protecting a lead, and have also gotten top centre Nick Suzuki back in the lineup. The one area where Winnipeg can point to an opening is Montreal’s power play, which sits last in the league, though the Canadiens’ penalty kill has been much better at 11th overall.
There was some movement at morning skate, though not much that changes the bigger picture. According to Mitchell Clinton, defenceman Josh Morrissey remains in yellow and non-contact this morning. Dawson Mercer took part after sitting out practice on Monday, although the session was optional, and Skinner, Lowry, DeMelo and Ferraro did not participate.
The Jets’ projected lines and pairings had Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi up front, followed by Perfetti-Lowry-Iafallo, Niederreiter-Barron-Bjorck and Koepke-Lambert-Rosen. On the back end, it was Samberg-Pionk, Ferraro-Salomonsson and Fleury-DeMelo, with Skinner listed separately.
Montreal’s projected group featured Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky on the top line, Kreider-Evans-Anderson next, then Bolduc-Danault-Texier, with F. Xhekaj-Newhook-Kapanen / Beck rounding things out.
The defensive pairs were Hutson-Dobson, Guhle-Carrier and A. Xhekaj-Engström, and the Canadiens confirmed Fowler will start in net.
The Jets are trying to stop the bleeding after being shut out in Carolina, and they’ll need more offense and a cleaner defensive effort if they want to keep this trip from ending with a tenth straight loss.
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Morgan Barron and Kyle Connor helped fuel the surge, with Connor striking twice as the Jets kept pressing and pressing. Winnipeg also owned the shot count by a wide margin, finishing with a 47-22 advantage, and the payoff was the kind of rally that can linger well beyond one night on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
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Lambert has had a hard time gaining traction in Winnipeg, with his usage and production both lagging behind what the organization likely hoped for. If he gets through the waiver process, the next stop would be the Manitoba Moose, a chance to reset in the AHL and keep playing regularly while the Jets decide what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Hellebuyck Faces His First Real Devils Test At Home
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The assignment is hardly a soft landing, with Edmonton coming in and Connor McDavid looming as the kind of opponent who can stress even the best goaltenders. For the Jets, who know Hellebuyck as well as anyone, it is another reminder of how much his presence can swing a game when the pressure rises and the matchup gets heavier. The real test at home is here, and it comes against one of the league's most dangerous players. [Read more 🡒]