Montreal Canadiens hope to even things out against Winnipeg Jets

The Montreal Canadiens will take on the Winnipeg Jets for their final game of the 2019 Rookie Tournament hoping to bounce back from a shaky loss to Ottawa.

The Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets are in the same boat as the 2019 Rookie Tournament draws close to its end. Both teams lost their opening match to the Ottawa Senators; however, it takes no analysis to say the Jets took the harsher of the two defeats.

The Habs had things going for them when they could and benefited from the play of their top line of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Ryan Poehling, and Nick Suzuki. Jake Evans and Liam Howel were also standouts on the ice, but it was defensive errors that cost the team the game. What the coaching staff will be looking for is how well this group of players responds.

Poehling and Suzuki will likely take charge as they have the most to prove. Can Josh Brook, who didn’t have the best of performances, be more solid in his end? Can the powerplay connect on those pretty plays both units were creating on the man advantage? These players have one more game and hopefully, they can make it count.

Head coach Joël Bouchard knows his players have more to give saying this after last night’s loss:

"If we compare it to the Rookie Tournament last year, it was night and day. We made a lot of nice plays. We didn’t score a lot of goals. I think we could have scored more. I liked the effort, and I think the guys gave what they could give. It wasn’t enough, but I’m really happy with the way the guys handled themselves."

You could see a little of what Bouchard was talking about as the game went on. The opening period was sloppy at times as the players adjusted to each other. But as it continued, the flow of play improved and chemistry started to form, especially between Poehling and Suzuki.

"We built some chemistry together quickly. It’s easy to play with Ryan, and Harvey-Pinard is good at getting loose pucks. I think we did good work."

The Jets, on the other hand, made some changes from the initial lines used on Friday:

Forwards

Chyzowski-Suess-Luoto

Vesalainen-Gustafsson-Phelan

Nault-Maier-Reichel

Toporowski-Pare-Lynch

Defence

Heinola-Kovacevic

Vallati-Green

Shaw-Gawanke

Goaltenders

Outhouse

Kristian Vesalainen, C.J. Suess and Kristian Reichel were a line together against the Senators but have been split up to get a different look.

The Jets aren’t making excuses for themselves but named travel fatigue and nerves as two of the main reasons why they weren’t their best. The Montreal Canadiens have what it takes to succeed in this match. However, growth is the key here.

Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST

Stream: TSN/RDS