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The Jets Will Make you Pay |
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The Canadiens looked frozen when the game started and the Jets were keeping them in their zone, forechecking and forcing turnovers, in the first period alone, the Habs committed 5 turnovers. While they survived the initial attack and had their own little dominant few minutes in Winnipeg’s end, the Canadiens couldn’t resist for the whole period and Stastny scored first with a nice deflection. The Jets then doubled their lead after yet another turnover, this one from Tyler Toffoli and after the first frame, the Canadiens were down 2-0.
The second was much better for Ducharme’s men. The special unit came through for the Habs and once again, the second wave of the power play capitalized, this time through Gallagher. A few minutes later, Jonathan Drouin found himself in the box and the penalty killing managed to resist the Jets, build momentum and set the table for the 2nd Montreal goal. Tyler Toffoli scored his 14th of the year after a Drouin shot from the blue line deflected on Suzuki and on TT’s skate to tie things up.
Unfortunately, Jake Allen made a mistake early in the 3rd and tried to pass the puck to Weber rather than Chiarot who was free behind the net and that became yet another turnover, which ended up behind Allen curtesy of a second Stastny goal. Allen failed to cover the top of the net and Stastny had no problem roofing it in. With less than 2 minutes to go and Allen back on the bench, Corey Perry brought the Habs back in the game after he scored off a double deflection. Once more, we were off to OT.
Ducharme didn’t start Danault and Armia in OT this time, he went for Kotkaniemi who had had a good night, gave some ice time to Suzuki and Drouin, he even went with 3 forwards at one stage. Both teams were trying to win and they got their chances, but both goaltenders were stellar in the extra frame. With less than a minute to go, Armia and Petry collided in the defensive zone and that lead to the Dubois game-winning goal.
The Jets deserved to win tonight, they provided a constant effort and made the most of their opportunities, but there were still some great performances by Tricolore players. Jonathan Drouin is a changed man since Ducharme has been put in charge. He had a good start of the season but he’s so much more involved now, tonight he had 4 hits. Yes, Jonathan Drouin had 4 hits…when’s the last time that happened? He also gathered 2 assists and blocked a shot. Corey Perry with about 11 minutes of time on ice got a goal and an assist as well as getting in Hellebucyk’s face and trying to put him off his game. It wasn’t a bad night at the face-off dot either, as the Habs won 58.8% of the draws.
Aside from all the turnovers, what was very disappointing tonight was to see Shea Weber take a really bad penalty in the third, it was a complete lack of discipline and I dare say of leadership. In a tight game, when you need a goal to tie it up, the captain has to lead by example and it’s definitely not what he did there. In a word, he was frustrated and made a selfish decision.
The Canadiens will face the Jets again on Saturday night and judging by Ducharme’s comments today, Price should be in net. Then, the Habs will embark on a 6-game trip out west in which they’ll face the Canucks, the Flames and the Jets 2 times each.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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