Montreal Canadiens: 3 Keys To Victory vs Jets

The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets will face off for the sixth time this season at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg. The Jets have won 3 of the 5 meetings between the two clubs thus far, with Montreal taking the most recent matchup 4-2 on Tuesday night.

The North division standings have tightened up as of late. The Jets currently sit second in the division with 36 points, while the Canadiens are in fourth place with a total of 33 points. A win for the Canadiens on Thursday night would help distance themselves from the Calgary Flames, who are hot on Montreal’s tail with 31 points.

Expect Carey Price to get the nod in goal. The 33-year-old has been red hot, posting a 4-1-1 record over his last six games with a .951 save percentage during that stretch. Montreal’s all-world goaltender was under the microscope in the month of February but has seemingly regained his form in early March.

With two goals on Tuesday night, Montreal’s Tyler Toffoli is in a tie for second with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the league lead in goals with 17.

Head coach Dominique Ducharme made a few tweaks to the defensive pairs on Tuesday in the absence of Ben Chiarot. Joel Edmundson lined up with Shea Weber, while Brett Kulak skated with Jeff Petry. Both pairs played very well, so there shouldn’t be any changes tonight.

The forward group also saw some changes. Jesperi Kotkaniami was elevated to the top line with Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson, while Nick Suzuki was deployed with Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli. Both lines contributed on the score sheet and showed chemistry, so they should remain the intact for tonight’s game.

Here are the three keys to victory versus Winnipeg.

Create Turnovers

It can be said that Winnipeg does not possess a strong defensive core. The Jets are loaded with talent up front, but lack stability and experience on the back end.

Josh Morrisey and Neal Pionk are regarded as Winnipeg’s top two defensemen, but are known mostly for their offensive output rather than their defensive abilities. Beyond those two, the Jets lack depth on the blue line.

This was evident in Tuesday’s game, as the Habs’ speed and relentless forecheck was too much for the Jets’ defensemen to handle.

Winnipeg’s defensemen will turn the puck over if they are under enough pressure. Three of the four Canadiens’ goals last game came from Jets’ turnovers in their own zone.

If Montreal can maintain a heavy forecheck, they will force Winnipeg to make mistakes. Mistakes often equal high-danger scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances often equal goals.

Create layers on the rush

I have mentioned multiple times so far this season that the Canadiens are at their best when they are creating chances off the rush.

What makes the transitional rush so effective is its ability to breakdown defensive coverage. The Canadiens possess a speedy lineup and can create an abundance of rush chances when they are playing well, but what makes their rush so dangerous is the activation of their blue line. When Montreal’s defensemen are activated into the play it creates an extra passing option for the puck carrier. It also creates layers of attack. The more layers, the harder it is for the opposition’s defensemen to cover all the passing options.

With defensemen jumping into the play, it can create chances going the other way if things go wrong. However, the Habs’ defenders seem to pick their chances wisely and are not often left out of position.

Look for Petry and Kulak to activate offensively when they get the chance against the Jets.