Winnipeg Jets end road trip with 3-2 shootout loss in Montreal

The good news for the Winnipeg Jets is that they got a point in Montreal Wednesday night.

But it was another game without a victory for the struggling team, who fell to the Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout, dropping their record to 1-5-1 since Connor Hellebuyck went on injured reserve.

This one was certainly not on the goaltending though. After getting pulled after just one period in their last game, Eric Comrie was spectacular and stood on his head, giving his team every chance to get the two points.

It was a thrilling end-to-end, back and forth contest as they traded goals in the first two periods. There was no scoring in the third and both teams had chances to win in an exciting overtime period before the Habs scored the only goal of the shootout to end a short two-game losing streak.

“That was night-and-day different than the other night,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “Our compete level, our execution. I don’t think we gave up any odd-man situations. If we did, they were very limited compared to last game. We did a great job, not only our forwards getting overtop of people, tracking back. Our ‘D’ did a great job with their gaps and that was a battle of two good goaltenders. (Jakub) Dobes and Comrie – both goaltenders made some big stops and there was a lot of different looks for each team.

“At the end of the day, I’m happy. I would like the two points but I’m happy with our effort.”

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Turnovers continue to be a problem for the Jets as they committed 26 giveaways. It was just the fourth time this season the Jets lost a game when scoring first.

Comrie made a number of magnificent saves in the first period and finished the game with 29 stops.

“Felt good to get those saves,” said Comrie. “Sucks not to get the two points. I thought our team played well enough to get the two points.”

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor both scored their 14th goals of the season in the defeat. Connor has scored a goal in each of the last three games, while Scheifele is now riding a five-game point streak. But once again their bottom three forward lines couldn’t find the back of the net.

“It isn’t always necessarily goals or getting shots,” said Arniel. “Sometimes it’s just wearing the opposition down. And it’s building it up for the next line to go out. But I really liked JT’s (Jonathan Toews) line. I thought that line had some really good looks and then Lows’ (Adam Lowry) line, and Bears (Morgan Barron) was heavy, and they played that heavy game that kinda wears them down. Hopefully we continue with that kind of recipe.”

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The Jets made three lineup changes from their embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Sabres two nights earlier. Neal Pionk returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury, while Elias Salomonsson also checked in on the blueline with Luke Schenn and Colin Miller both coming out. Cole Koepke came into the lineup on forward as Gustav Nyquist was a healthy scratch.

Goaltending has been an issue (but certainly not the only issue) in Hellebuyck’s absence, but that was not the case in this one. Coming off a terrible performance in Buffalo on Monday, the Jets once again got off to a shaky start but were bailed out time and again in the first period by Comrie.

He made a couple big saves after an egregious turnover by Logan Stanley deep in Winnipeg territory, one of a handful of mistakes in the Jets’ end that led to great Montreal chances that Comrie turned aside.

It all led to Winnipeg opening the scoring late in the frame, thanks once again to their top line.

Connor caught up to a 50/50 puck in the neutral zone, poking it into the Montreal end before trying to get around Noah Dobson. Mike Matheson also came back to help as Connor was pushed to the faceoff dot, but he won the puck and saw that Scheifele was wide open in the slot. Scheifele took a pass from Connor and wired it past Dobes for his 14th of the season at the 18:35 mark.

The Jets maintained that lead until the midway point of the second period as Montreal cashed in on their first power play look of the night. With Tanner Pearson in the box for slashing, Cole Caufield got the puck below the goal line and fed Juraj Slafkovsky in front for a one-timer that beat Comrie high to tie the game.

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Less than two minutes later, the Jets were back in front thanks to a chaotic sequence of events. It began with one of the longest net-mouth scrambles that you’ll see, with no whistle blowing as almost every player on the ice dug around the crease of Dobes.

The puck eventually came free and Winnipeg kept possession, trying to take advantage of the fact that Slafkovsky was playing without a stick. The former number one overall pick was able to deliver a crushing hit on Josh Morrissey as he took a hit to make a play at the point, eventually leading to Gabriel Vilardi getting the puck behind the net. He then fed Connor by the faceoff dot and he ripped a shot off the post and in for his 14th of the season.

But the Jets’ couldn’t hold the lead as Montreal got even again just over two minutes later. Ivan Demidov beat Morrissey in a battle for the puck in the corner of Winnipeg’s end before feeding a streaking Oliver Kapanen, left alone in the slot, who made no mistake to make it 2-2.

It stayed that way into the third where Winnipeg earned their first power play look of the night but were not able to cash in.

Neither team could muster a goal in the third so the game required overtime, and what ensued was a high-octane reminder of how fun 3-on-3 hockey can be.

Each side had several decent chances to score but Montreal had the bulk of them, outshooting the Jets 5-1 in the five-minute session. Comrie once again had to make some stellar saves but on the Canadiens’ best opportunity, they had a 3-on-1 but overpassing led to a low-quality shot on net.

Dobes also had to make a great save late in OT when Toews fed Vladislav Namestnikov on an odd-man rush. Dobes made a sprawling pad save to keep the game tied, sending it to a shootout.

Caufield was the first shooter for Montreal and he beat Comrie five-hole, the only player to light the lamp in the shootout. Comrie stopped the next two shooters for the Canadiens but all three of Winnipeg’s shooters failed, with Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi coming up empty, the game ending when Vilardi’s attempt rang off the bar.

Comrie did all he could to give his team a chance to win, making 29 saves while Dobes also turned aside 29 shots.

The shootout loss is Winnipeg’s first loss after regulation this season, leaving the Boston Bruins as the lone team yet to suffer an extra-time defeat.

Winnipeg will now head home after a 1-3-1 road trip, hosting the Sabres on Friday. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 4 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 6 p.m.