Laine scoreless, comeback falls short, and more: 3 reasons why Montreal Canadiens lost 4-2 to Winnipeg Jets – Source: Imagn
The Montreal Canadiens lost a 4-2 contest to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night at the Canada Life Centre. The Jets fought off the Habs’ comeback bid, getting an empty-netter to ice the win.
Gabriel Vilardi, Adam Lowry, Kyle Connor and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Jets. Meanwhile, Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson had the tallies for the Montreal Canadiens. Samuel Montembeault had a solid bounce-back game, making 23 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.
Here’s a closer look at the three key reasons why the Montreal Canadiens lost to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
3 reasons why Montreal Canadiens lost to Winnipeg Jets
#3 Weak penalty kill effort
The Montreal Canadiens ran into considerable penalty trouble against the Jets, taking six penalties on the night. As such, the Jets had six chances with the man advantage, converting on two occasions. The two power play goals, one by Vilardi and the other by Connor, allowed the Jets to build a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
In particular, Connor’s 17th of the season proved to be the game-winner. In hindsight, it’s easy to speculate that without the two power play tallies, the Canadiens would have had a chance to win the game. However, the Jets scored and the Canadiens lost the game.
#2 Failed comeback attempt
Josh Anderson’s fifth of the season pulled the Canadiens to within one goal at 3-2. While the Canadiens made a strong push to tie the game, their comeback bid ultimately fell short.
Namestnikov’s eighth of the season, an empty-netter, sealed the victory for the Jets. The Canadiens outshot the Jets 9-7 in the third period but could not get the equalizer to at least send the game into overtime. It was a valiant effort that fell short in the end.
#1 Canadiens’ top scorers failed to step up
The Montreal Canadiens top scorers failed to step up on Saturday night. Captain Nick Suzuki had a quiet night, with Juraj Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach failing to register on the scoresheet. Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield had one assist apiece.
The Canadiens’ lack of scoring from their top scorers was the main reason why the club could not pull off the comeback. Moving forward, the Canadiens will need to get more scoring from their top six in order to have a chance to win games.
The Canadiens will get a couple of days to rest before taking on the Buffalo Sabres at home on Tuesday night.
