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Secondary Scoring | RECAP: WPG @ MTL

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL | Game 45, Home Game 21 | Tuesday January 17, 2023
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

4-1

JETS

Winnipeg
Evgenii Dadonov (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Jesse Ylonen

Mike Hoffman – Kirby Dach – Josh Anderson

Michael Pezzetta – Christian Dvorak – Evgenii Dadonov

Harvey-Pinard – Pitlick 

Defence pairings

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Mike Matheson – David Savard

Jordan Harris – Johnathan Kovacevic

Arber Xhekaj

Goaltenders

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Scratches

Chris Wideman

Injuries

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Sean Monahan (lower-body), Kaiden Guhle (lower-body), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), Jake Allen (upper-body), Jake Evans (lower-body), Joel Armia (upper-body), Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), Juraj Slafkovsky (lower-body)

Game Report

The Winnipeg Jets came into the night as the leaders in the Western conference. They looked like anything else but an elite NHL team at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. Jets head coach Rick Bowness called his team’s performance bad; no one could disagree with that.

The Canadiens were only too happy to take advantage of the struggles of their opponent. Montreal had their own challenges, with a very lengthy injury list. But given the absence of several regulars, young players were given the opportunity to take on bigger roles.

It’s been very rare this season that wins have come without the contributions of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Tonight was one of those nights. Secondary scoring from Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman were the difference in this game.

Hoffman’s play was ignited by Kirby Dach who can impact the game and his linemates when slotted at centre. Dach finished the game with two primary assists facilitating Josh Anderson’s third period goal after Kirby drove to the net with purpose. Dach’s ability to dominate shifts while playing the middle should be an obvious signal to the coaching staff to pencil him at centre and leave him there for the remainder of the season.

It was also a special evening for Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron. The 21-year-old had his first multi-point game with two assists. Justin had his parents at the Bell Centre watching him for the first time in the NHL and he was facing his brother Morgan, a rugged forward for the Jets.

Tonight’s win marks the first time since November 25th that the Canadiens have won two straight games.

Up Next

The Canadiens will practice at 11:30 am. at Brossard on Wednesday morning. General Manager Kent Hughes will speak to the media at 12:30 pm.

The Habs will welcome the Florida Panthers to the Bell Centre on Thursday night.

Plus

▲  Kirby Dach, Evgenii Dadonov, Justin Barron, Josh Anderson, Jesse Ylonen, Mike Hoffman, Arber Xhekaj

Minus

▼  Cole Caufield, Joel Edmundson, Nick Suzuki, Johnathan Kovacevic, Rem Pitlick, Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Matheson Returns | PREVIEW: WPG @ MTL

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   JETS
28 Shots 26
47 Face-off % 53
0-for-3 Power Play 1-for-2
9 Penalty Minutes 11
25 Hits 20
43 Corsi For 56
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (19-23-3) 0 3 1 – – 4
Jets (29-15-1) 0 1 0 – – 1
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Dadonov (3), Hoffman (8), Dadonov (4), Anderson (12) 
  • WPG: Connor (22)-PPG 
  • MTL: Montembeault (W) (9-7-2)
  • WPG: Hellebuyck (L) (22-11-1)

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Justin Barron  MTL
  2. Evgenii Dadonov  MTL
  3. Kirby Dach  MTL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Marty St. Louis

  • “I was telling the team today, we will always be stronger collectively than individually. We try to build a team game, a culture. And even if we lose important players, the next guy will be able to fit into the structure.”

Justin Barron

  • “It’s an evening that I will remember for a long time. It was the first time [my parents] had seen me play in the NHL in person. My brother and I would not be here without their support. It is special.”

Rick Bowness, Winnipeg Jets head coach

  • “We weren’t skating. Our legs weren’t going. Our compete wasn’t good. Our execution was way off. There’s very few games that we’re going to walk out of a rink and say we didn’t deserve to win but that’s certainly one tonight.”
  • “We didn’t deserve to win that game. We were behind the all night and made it very easy for them to play their game. When the compete isn’t there and the legs (aren’t) there and the execution isn’t there, then you look bad. We looked bad.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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