Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault, centre, celebrates with teammates after defeating the Winnipeg Jets in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Tuesday, January 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Trailing 1-0, the Montreal Canadiens scored four unanswered goals to grab a 4-1 win over the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
Montreal (19-23-3) sealed back-to-back wins while handing the Jets only their second loss since the start of the new year.
Evgenii Dadonov had his first two-goal game since March 17, 2022. Mike Hoffman and Josh Anderson also scored for Montreal. Justin Barron, Christian Dvorak and Kirby Dach each pitched in with two assists.
In his fifth consecutive game between the pipes for Montreal, Samuel Montembeault made 24 saves on 25 shots.
Kyle Connor was the lone scorer for the Jets (29-15-1) with his 200th NHL goal as Winnipeg snapped a three-game win streak.
Connor Hellebuyck allowed four goals and made 24 saves.
The Jets got on the board first after a scoreless opening frame. Connor completed the one-timer in the right faceoff circle from Josh Morrissey’s pass on the power play at 1:24.
Montreal responded with three unanswered goals to complete the second period. After missing an opportunity from the slot seconds earlier, Dadonov accepted Barron’s pass from the slot and whipped in a one-timer from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
The Habs took their first lead of the night at 9:28 when Hoffman beat Hellebuyck with a wrist shot.
Dadonov then scored his second goal of the game by hopping on Hellebuyck’s rebound to give the Canadiens a 3-1 advantage.
Montreal increased their lead to three goals at 4:19 of the third. Dach attempted the wraparound and was denied by Hellebuyck but the rebound went to Anderson in the slot who scored his 15th of the season.
INJURY LIST EXPANDING
The Canadiens announced before the game that Juraj Slafkovsky (lower-body), Joel Armia (upper-body) and Jake Evans (lower-body) were added to the injury reserve list. Jonathan Drouin, who was a game-time decision with an upper-body injury, also missed the game. The team also placed Sean Monahan, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, on long-term injury reserve.
One positive for the Habs was the return of defenceman Mike Matheson, who played his first game since Dec. 17. The Montreal native was out with a lower-body injury.
BARRON VS. BARRON
Brothers Justin (Montreal) and Morgan Barron (Winnipeg) played against each other in an NHL game for the first time.
UP NEXT
The Canadiens welcome the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
The Jets continue their five-game road trip by visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.
