In Montreal, the Canadiens completed the sweep of the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
Tyler Toffoli scored with 1:39 gone in overtime to give Montreal a 3-2 win and 4-0 series win.
“I think that’s definitely one of the bigger ones,” Toffoli said . “It’s fun right now. We’re doing a good job, and it just kind of feels like we’re all kind of playing as one.”
Carey Price made 14 saves on the night for the win.
“Obviously, we’re excited about the opportunity, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Price said.
With their proverbial back to the wall, the Jets managed just 16 shots on goal.
Montreal has won seven straight games.
“We can write our own story,” Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said. “That’s what we want to do.”
The Canadiens now wait for the winner of the Colorado Avalanche/Vegas Golden Knights series, tied 2-2, in the West Division.
Erik Gustafsson gave the Habs a 1-0 lead in the first period; the goal came off the power play.
“We just couldn’t get the first goal,” Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler said. “We just couldn’t do it all series, and that plays right into their hands, especially their top four defensemen. They’re big and heavy and they do a great job of just clearing pucks and throwing them out of the zone.”
Artturi Lehkonen pushed the lead to 2-0 51 seconds left in the opening frame.
“They’re playing at a really high level right now,” Wheeler said. “You just have to give them all the credit.”
The win gives the Canadiens the crown of the North Division and the first team to move into the quarterfinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“You know that the team that’s down has got their backs against the wall and they’re going to bring their best effort,” Montreal’s Shea Weber said. “So it’s always the hardest one to close out and you know you don’t want to give it too many chances. As you’ve seen in the past, things can turn around really quickly.”
Defenseman Logan Stanley scored his first two goals of the playoffs in the second period to get the Jets even.
After stunning the Edmonton Oilers in four straight games in the opening round, the Jets fell flatter than a skid mark on the Winnipeg airport runaway.
“They’re playing at a really high level right now,” Wheeler said. “You just have to give them all the credit. With the goaltending they have, any breakdowns, he’s putting out those fires. And we just couldn’t get the first goal. We just couldn’t do it all series. That plays right into their hands.
“If we could have just found a way to get that first goal, it could be a different series, but we didn’t. You just have to give them so much credit. They’re playing unbelievable right now.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 39 saves in the loss.
“[Hellebuyck] gives us a chance to win every night, and unfortunately we weren’t able to score enough for him this series,” Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry said. “But he gave us a chance every night to be in the game and we just weren’t able to buy a couple.”
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