The Winnipeg Jets started their five-game road trip with a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens. Here are three talking points from the game.
The Winnipeg Jets started their huge five-game road trip yesterday against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. This game also was game one of a pair of games between Winnipeg and Montreal.
Ultimately the Jets performed well yesterday and skated to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Here are three talking points from yesterday’s Jets win:
3. Fast Start Makes the Difference
Yesterday in our site’s game preview for this game, I wrote about how you should expect the Jets to start fast in this one, considering how they were well-rested coming into the game and Montreal played the night before in Toronto.
Little did I expect that this fast start would include the Jets scoring 18 seconds into the game, but that is exactly what the Jets did.
Right off of the opening faceoff the puck was pushed in deep towards Connor Hellebuyck’s net. Hellebuyck then shoveled the puck into the corner.
Adam Lowry received the puck in the corner and passed the puck to Mason Appleton, who was being pressured on the side wall, and he quickly redirected the puck to Mathieu Perreault who was moving quickly up the ice.
The Jets entered into the offensive zone on a three-on-two with speed. Lowry decided to go to the front of the net, which forced a defenseman to go with him. This play left a wide-open trailing Josh Morrissey.
Perreault moved the puck to Morrisey and fired a beautiful wrist shot off the post and in to give the Jets a 1-0 lead 18 seconds from the opening puck drop.
You could not ask for a better start from the Jets. Although the Canadiens tied the game just over a minute later, Winnipeg scored two more goals to give them a 3-2 lead after one period.
As you can see by the final scoreline, the first period made the difference in yesterday’s game. The Jets jumped on a team that played less than 24 hours ago and ultimately Montreal could not mount a comeback.