The Winnipeg Jets began a 3 game road tonight in Montreal as part of their final 4 games before the 4 Nations face off break, which will happen between February 10th and February 22nd. Tonight’s opponent was the Montreal Canadiens, who have been battling as of late for a wild card position in the Eastern conference. The Jets entered this game on a 3 game win streak, while the Canadiens were a modest 1-1-1 in their past 3 games. Despite a slow start, the Jets (especially their top line) started playing well, and the Jets would pick up their 35th win of the season with a 4-1 victory. Here’s a recap on all of tonight’s action.

A slow start to this game had Jets fans worried, but Connor Hellebuyck was his usual dominant self tonight. Canadiens led the shots on goal 15-7 after the 1st, and picked up the 1st goal of the game 9 minutes in. Cole Caufield sent a pass behind the net, and Nick Suzuki sent a nice pass in front for an open Juraj Slafkovsky, who snapped it pass Hellebuyck, making it 1-0 Canadiens.

4 minutes later, the Jets equalized this game at 1 thanks to elite goal scorer Kyle Connor. Dylan DeMelo shot the puck on net from the point, and Vilardi got a quick rebound, before Kyle Connor picked up the puck and snapped it past  Sam Montembault for his 28th of the season.

1 minute later, with 4 minutes left in the 1st, Arber Xhekaj took a hooking call against Alex Iafallo. The Jets couldn’t get much going on their 1st of 3 powerplays on the night, and the Jets went into the 1st intermission tied at 1.

The 2nd period was where the Jets started to play “proper” Jets hockey, leading the shots on goal department 13 to just 3 for the Canadiens. The Jets got their 2nd powerplay of the game 7 minutes into the 2nd due to a slash by David Savard on Cole Perfetti. The powerplay was unsuccessful, but around 1 minute after the man advantage ended, Mark Scheifele “one-up’d” Kyle Connor by scoring his 29th goal of the season. A nice set play saw Morrissey feed the puck down low for Vilardi, and he found Scheifele in front who snapped it past Montembault to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.

The Jets continued to be the better team throughout the rest of the 2nd period, and their good play led to one more goal before the period ended, with just 1.5 seconds left. Kyle Connor equalized Scheifele’s goal total of 29 after a nice puck retrieval from David Gustafsson. Connor was in prime shooting position in front, and he snapped one in to beat the 2nd period buzzer.

The 3rd period was the least eventful of the 3, with the shots on goal only 7-5 for the Canadiens. The Habs showed some pushback down 2, but the Jets defence shut them down, preventing many (if any) possible good scoring chances. Alexandre Carrier tripped Cole Perfetti with 10 minutes left, but once again the Jets powerplay couldn’t get anything going, as they would finish 0/3 on the night.

With just over 2 minutes left, the Canadiens pulled their goalie, trying for one last push at making this game closer. After a near chance in front, Perfetti sent the puck up to Ehlers, who carried the puck past centre before finding Kupari on the wing, who backhanded the puck into the empty net. Shots on goal finished at 25-24 for the Canadiens, and the Jets went away with a 4-1 victory.

Kyle Connor’s two goal performance brings him up to 65 points in 52 games. At his current pace, Connor could become the 1st Jets 2.0 player to reach 100 points in a season. Mark Scheifele’s 29th goal of the year keeps him on pace for a career high in a season, and it also brings him to within 2 goals of tying Ilya Kovalchuk for the most goals in Jets franchise history.

Gabriel Vilardi had a multi-point game with 2 assists, and David Gustafsson, who was struggling to find the scoresheet at all earlier this season, is quietly on a 4 game point streak.

With the win, the Jets are now 5-3-2 in their last 10 games against the Canadiens (all meetings). The game was the type of performance the team needed to continue their momentum from being on a 3 game win streak. The team will have the day off tomorrow, before travelling to Boston for a game Thursday night against the Bruins. Make sure to check back here at Jets Nation for a preview for that game, and if you want to see the full highlights for tonight’s game, check out the video below.