Site icon Habs Hockey Report

Jets @ Canadiens: Kings of the North | HABS GAME 4 RECAP

Montreal Canadiens vs Winnipeg Jets Game Recap: Habs Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game Interviews, NHL Three-Stars

FINAL/OT | Round 2, Game 4 |Monday June 6, 2021

Canadiens win series 4-0

Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

3-2

JETS

Winnipeg

Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Artturi Lehkonen – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Josh Anderson

Joel Armia – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Joel Edmundson 

Alexander Romanov – Erik Gustafsson

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Scratches

Tomas Tatar, Michael Frolik, Charlie Lindgren

Black Aces

Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylonen, Cale Fleury, Otto Leskinen, Xavier Ouellet, Cayden Primeau, Michael McNiven

Injuries

Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), Jon Merrill (undisclosed), Jake Evans (concussion), Jeff Petry (hand)

Game Report

This has been the season of the unexpected. And the Montreal Canadiens have taken their cue to become the unanticipated champions of the North Division. But that doesn’t mean that their success has been accidental. 

The Canadiens swept the Winnipeg Jets by employing a relentless forecheck that pressured Jets defencemen into making mistakes. They had little room to breath. At the other end of the ice, Habs defencemen, primarily Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot and Joel Edmundson punished Winnipeg forwards.

And the Canadiens skaters were able to be effective in their roles because they had Carey Price in goal. Price’s elite level goaltending provided each player on the team with a supercharged boost in confidence. They knew that Price would extinguish any fires that they had created.

The Jets did not get the first goal in any of the four games played in the series. Price shutdown opposition shooters early until his teammates could turn the tide to score and take a lead. Winnipeg did not hold a lead at any time in this series.

And that was big. It allowed the Canadiens to follow their game plan and outscore the Jets 14-6 over four games. Price ended the series with a record of 4-0, with a 1.49 goals against average, a .942 save percentage and one shutout.

The confidence engendered by Price ensured that the Canadiens didn’t beat themselves. Mistakes that were commonplace during the regular season have not appeared.

Under the radar players like Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen have made significant contributions in the playoffs. Lehkonen’s ability to fight for position and tip a point shot for a goal tonight was a thing of beauty.

Canadiens youth, most of whom did not have the trust of the interim head coach to start the playoffs have had a major impact. Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are tied with Armia and Tyler Toffoli for the team lead in goals. Cole Caufield has assisted on two game-winning goals. And after a solid game tonight, it all seems rather silly that Alexander Romanov has been watching the playoffs from the press box until now.

Up Next

The Canadiens will have some time until the next series, time to rest and heal and time to prepare for an opponent that they haven’t faced all season. Montreal will meet the winner of the Avalanche – Golden Knights series which currently sits at 2-2. The Canadiens will have a day off on Tuesday.

Plus

▲  Carey Price, Shea Weber, Artturi Lehkonen, Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield,   Brendan Gallagher

Minus

▼  Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Paul Byron, Josh Anderson

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Jets @ Canadiens: One Win Away | HABS GAME 4 PREVIEW

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   JETS
42 Shots 16
48 Face-off % 52
1-for-3 Power Play 0-for-1
2 Penalty Minutes 6
25 Hits 49
62 Corsi For 30
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (8-3) 2 0 0 1 3
Jets (4-4) 0 2 0 0 2
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Gustafsson (1)-PPG, Lehkonen (2), Toffoli (4)
  • WPG: Stanley (1), Stanley (2) 
  • MTL: Price (W) 8-3
  • WPG: Hellebuyck (L) 4-4

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Tyler Toffoli  MTL
  2. Logan Stanley  WPG
  3. Artturi Lehkonen  MTL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “We have a lot of work ahead of us. Obviously, we really knew the teams we played this year. It’s good to battle the best. They were among the top teams in the League. Our goal isn’t to stop here. If we want to reach our goal, we need to beat the best teams.”

Tyler Toffoli

  • “I think that’s definitely one of the bigger [goals]. It’s fun right now. We’re doing a good job. It just feels like we’re all kind of playing as one. We just have to continue like this. Hopefully, we just keep having success and keep winning games.”
  • “It’s just one of those things where we just don’t care who gets the job done for us. We have everybody going. Everybody’s playing the right way. We’re just winning games and just playing. Honestly, we’re all playing our best hockey at the right time, so we’ve just got to keep going.”

Carey Price

  • “I said at the start of the year that every chance you get is a golden one. These guys are playing as well as any team has ever played.”
  • “They’re a resilient bunch of guys. We’ve been sticking together this whole season through thick and thin, and it’s paying off for us.”

Shea Weber

  • “There’s such a great group of guys in there. That translates on the ice. Everyone does their job and has a specific job that they’re supposed to do on the ice. And that’s part of it, too. But I think that everyone plays for each other and does the right thing for their teammates.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

Social Media

Best of Twitter

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter

 

Be sure to follow @AllHabs on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube

Exit mobile version