In Winnipeg, the Montreal Canadiens still found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard on Saturday night.
At least Paul Stastny made quick when he scored with 36 seconds gone in extra time to give the Jets a 2-1 win over the Habs.
The Habs are 0-2-0 since firing Claude Julien.
“We stayed the course. We stayed with it,” new Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme said. ” … It’s too bad for our guys, they deserved a second [goal].”
Connor Hellebuyck made 40 saves in the win.
“I think overtime is a crapshoot, especially 3-on-3,” Stastny said. “You might as well go out there and play aggressive. You could play a five-minute overtime and not have one chance either way and just sit back, or once there’s one chance you can just kind of trade chances.
“Sometimes it’s a coach’s nightmare, a goalie’s nightmare. But for the fans and the players, it’s always fun going 3-on-3 and knowing any time you’re out there it could end real quick.”
Nick Suzuki was the lone scorer for Montreal who dropped to 9-6-5.
“I like the way I’ve been playing, I like the way tonight went,” Hellebuyck said. “I’m pretty happy with the outcome.”
The Canadiens are -2-3 in their last five.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets in regulation.
“I don’t think we played our greatest game today,” Ehlers said. “We knew how they were going to come out. That’s what you expect every single game. Montreal’s a great team. They’ve got some really good players, so these games are a lot of fun. All the tight games, obviously you wish you could win every single game 6-2, whatever it is, but the tight games, they feel that much better.
“We didn’t play our greatest, but [Hellebuyck] was great again tonight and we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Winnipeg improved to 13-6-1.
Jake Allen made 19 saves in the loss.
“I just thought it was an attitude adjustment,” Allen said. “We had a good day at practice yesterday and a good skate today and mood in the room and good attitude tonight. Obviously we did a few things structurally that got in and our offensive zone game was great, and we’re going to get better.”
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