There is obviously water i the tanks. That’s the only reasonable explanation for the lack of game from the Winnipeg Jets in their second round series with the Montreal 
Canadiens.
Of course, it could be the Canadiens are just better than the Jets.
That was certainly the case, again, in Montreal as the Habs took a 3-0 series lead on Sunday afternoon with a 5-1 win over the listless Jets.
“I think it’s great for us right now, to be honest with you,” the Jets’ Blake Wheeler said. “Having to sit in a hotel room all day tomorrow and stew on that one, you would have a lot of guys burning inside. … Hopefully we get a good feeling in our room and start to rebuild ourselves. We’ve got to win a hockey game, no different than it was today. We’ve got to win one game, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Carey Price made 26 saves, 14 in the third period, to get the win.
Joel Armia struck for two goals and three points in the Montreal win.
“It’s a different kind of confidence you get in the game when you know that you can trust the guy in the net, and I think he’s been unbelievable,” Armia said of Price, who got his eighth playoff shutout in Montreal’s 1-0 win in Game 2.
Game 4 is a quick turn around with Montreal hosting on Monday evening.
“We know we’re in a nice little rhythm right now, but we went through this last series and we know how quickly these things can change,” Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher said. “We obviously have the advantage right now but you’ve got to make sure that you don’t give the other team any life, any hope.”
Corey Perry staked Montreal to a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.
Armia scored a shorthanded goal to give the Canadiens a 3-0 lead, he added an empty-net goal late to seal what was already afeti accompli.
Adam Lowry scored the Jets’ only goal in the second period after the Canadiens had made it 3-0.
“It’s nice to get one behind [Price],” Lowry said. “Earlier in the year I think everybody was ready to run Carey out of town and he couldn’t find his game. Now he’s back to the form that they all expect. It’s in our best interest to chip away at that confidence and you just continue to get bodies to the net. He’s a world-class goalie for a reason.”
The Jets were scoreless on two power-play chances, Montreal scored once in three opportunities.
“It was pretty strange, I was dead certain that it went in,” Wheeler said. “I thought it hit the back-bar or the goalie camera, the camera in the net. It felt like I scored, it’s a 1-1 hockey game, and it kind of changes the complexion of things. It’s part of being good — sometimes you’ve got to get lucky too — so he’s obviously standing tall in the net right now and things are going his way.”
Arturri Lehkonen and Nick Suzuki also scored for Montreal.
Montreal has three shorthanded goals in the postseason.
Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves in the loss.
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