Canadiens Showed Character Despite Loss To Jets
![Mar 1, 2022; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson (17) is congratulated by Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) on his goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports Mar 1, 2022; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson (17) is congratulated by Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) on his goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/d075d24aaaa3ba96bcd6c23112797641f19eb5495ca2b93b310e8f4c024c7feb.jpg)
Anyone who’s looking at the score sheet without having seen the Canadiens versus Jets game would think they took a beating. They did, but the game was wild and showed tons of positive despite the score.
152. 8. 107. Final. 4
The Canadiens were set to play their second game in six days, a rarity in today’s calendar. After beating the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Martin St. Louis’ squad was entering Winnipeg on a red hot 5 game winning streak. The Jets on the other hand were trying to rally from their own losing streak, not to mention a season that saw them lose Paul Maurice as their Head Coach, but also dwindle down the standings.
At the blink of an eye it was 4-0 Jets. The Canadiens came out flat and Samuel Montembeault allowed 4 goals in 6 shots. The goaltender immediately shot glances at his head coach but Martin St. Louis was having none of it. It wasn’t Montembeault’s fault and the coach knew it.
Barely 2 minutes after the Jets’ fourth goal, Josh Anderson gave the team some life scoring a goal where the puck had eyes.
Une quatrième but en cinq matchs pour Josh Anderson. 🏒
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 2, 2022
Fourth goal in five games for Josh Anderson.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/qw6zZaJN0H
The Power Horse wouldn’t end there as the Canadiens would finally put one in on the powerplay, reducing the margin to 4-2.
C'est payant de sauter sur les rebonds. 👀
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 2, 2022
It pays to jump on rebounds.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/IGoCDwhpIy
A couple of minutes later, it was Lehkonen’s turn to give the Habs a push and bring the score to 4-3 for the Jets. Clearly, he is not affected by all the trade rumors involving him.
Lehky réduit l'écart!
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 2, 2022
Lehky cuts into Winnipeg's lead!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/z9rBoXCEgG
The period ends with the Canadiens having grabbed all of the momentum. So much so that not even five minutes into the second period, Josh Anderson scores and gets his first career hat trick.
Un premier tour du chapeau en carrière pour Josh Anderson! 🎩
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 2, 2022
First career hat trick for Josh!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/5F2CE0nWYp
The fans who voted in a recent poll are correct not wanting to trade him. Anderson is definitely worth keeping through a rebuild if this is the kind of nightly show he can give us.
Sources have whispered to us that some teams have inquired about the asking price for Josh Anderson.
— A Winning Habit (@FSAWinningHabit) February 19, 2022
If a decent offer is made and given that we're on the cusp of a full scale rebuild, do you trade him? Comment why!#Habs #GoHabsGo #CH #NHL #Hockey #HockeyTwitter #NHLTwitter
We got this right?
🎩🎩🎩
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 2, 2022
MTL 4, WPG 4#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Q1JBfA7QGY
Don’t celebrate too fast because the Jets still have an offense that shouldn’t be messed with, and the Canadiens have a shaky blue line at best. The Jets took advantage of that after Jeff Petry took a penalty and the Jets took the lead 5-4 on the powerplay. End of the second period.
The third period is summed up easily. Brendan Gallagher, who’s having an atrocious season and only has one point in his last 16 games, took a penalty. 6-4 Jets. Shortly after Gallagher takes another penalty. The ice tilts and it’s suddenly 7-4 Jets and that was enough to finally shoo Samuel Montembeault from his net in favor of Andrew Hammond.
Despite two more power plays, which has been on of the Habs’ achilles heels this season, they couldn’t capitalize and the final score was 8-4.
Of course, prior to the game there were tons of talks as to what would happen between Mark Scheifele and Jake Evans. We all remember the brutal hit Evans took that resulted in a concussion. Scheifele claimed he doesn’t understand the “code” but would fight anyone who’s willing. Jake Evans had long moved on from the incident.
#Habs Jake Evans responds to #Jets Mark Scheifele, who suggested he would answer the bell in tonight's game.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 1, 2022
Scheifele ended Evans' series with a hit that earned him a four-game suspension in game one of the two teams' second round series. https://t.co/DpMfDqUgER pic.twitter.com/mTKtR20yws
Turns out, Schiefele was the one who did the head hunting, going after players smaller than him. He finally got his wish when Chris Wideman, of all people, got fed up and threw the gloves down and got manhandled by the much bigger player. Scheifele then tried to pump the crowd up. By the way, the Jets were leading 7-4 at this point.
Mark Scheifele firing up the crowd after getting taken down by Chris Wideman is some type of energy pic.twitter.com/SDByT8PC2O
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 2, 2022
So you’re ahead 7-4 with 4 minutes to the game. Then you decide with your 6’3″ 210 pound frame to go after a guy who’s just under 5’10” and barely 180 pounds soaking wet and beat him up so you can show revenge from last year’s playoffs?
Stay classy Scheifele.
Josh Anderson made it clear the Canadiens weren’t happy with Mark Scheifele’s antics after the fight with Chris Wideman. “Good thing we play them one more time this year.”
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 2, 2022
Circle Monday, April 11th on your calendar as the Jets will be in Montreal for their last meeting of the season.
The Canadiens showed tons of character despite getting beat up on the ice and on the scoreboard. Even after giving up four consecutive power play goals, you still felt that sense of urgency in their play. The top line did their job, Jake Evans did his thing and the support cast including Lehkonen and Ryan Poehling showed some nice flashes as well.
Martin St. Louis showed humility during the post-game press conference. Going as far as taking some of the blame himself by stating that he had trouble managing the bench due to all the penalties called during the game. The Jets went 4 for 8 on the power play while the Habs went 1 for 9.
#Habs Martin St. Louis: "I think we self-inflicted a lot" - says it was hard to manage the bench today with all the penalties, etc...
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) March 2, 2022
The team surprisingly didn’t look all that defeated. They understood a winning streak will end at some point and this is one of those bizarro world games that happens once in a blue moon. Penalties galore, all out offence, etc. Once it’s all said and done, this is the type of game where you develop instant amnesia and move on.
The Canadiens will move on to Calgary on Thursday as they will face Tyler Toffoli and the Flames at 9PM ET.
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