A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: 3 Keys To Victory versus the Winnipeg Jets

By Matthew Candy

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 02: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammate Tomas Tatar #90 during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 02: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with teammate Tomas Tatar #90 during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 11: Tyler Toffoli Shea Weber Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 11: Tyler Toffoli Shea Weber Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Special Teams

The special teams has been a hot topic in Montreal over the past couple weeks, and not for the good reasons. The Habs rank 16th in the NHL in powerplay percentage, sitting at a 21%, while their penalty kill is operating at 76.8%, good for 21st.

This may have been in part to Kirk Muller being in charge of the personnel deployed on the power play for the first part of the season. The Habs lacked zone time and puck possession, two essentials to an effective powerplay.

Things may be looking up however, as Alex Burrows has revamped both power play units for the Canadiens. Jesperi Kotkaniemi has assumed the role of power play quarterback on both units and everything is running through his hands on the half wall.

With these new changes, the Canadiens were able to go 2/3 on the power play against the Senators on Tuesday and controlled the majority of zone time while having the man advantage.

The Habs also had a strong penalty kill on Tuesday night, killing off all three Ottawa power plays.

Montreal will look to build off Tuesday’s special teams performance and apply it again tonight against the Jets. They will need to be strong on the penalty kill, as Winnipeg has top-end talent on both of their power play units.

Having both a strong power play and penalty kill will swing games in the Canadiens’ favor more often than not.

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