Canadiens Come to Town and Whip the Jets 5-1 Before Olympic Break

JETS HEAD INTO BREAK WITH SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS

Inside a Canada Life Centre that actually felt like Centre Bell, the Montreal Canadiens were simply too young and too fast.

With a goal and two assists from Josh Andetson and a goal and two assists from Brendan Gallagher, the Hab s walloped the hometown Winnipeg Jets 5-1.

However, it did not feel like a hometown game. Canada Life Centre was jam-packed with Montreal Canadiens jerseys and Habs cheered loudly when their favourites scored goal after goal.

With the loss, the Jets fell to 22-26-8 at the 2026 Olympic break. Winnipeg will not play again until Feb. 25 in Vancouver.

The Jets dominated the first half of the opening period and not only built a 13-5 lead in shots on goal but took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Kyle Connor at 6:07.

Vilardi with the great pass to set up Connor (Photo by Danny Truong)

Connor, positioned in his “office” to the right of Habs netminder Samuel Montembeault, took a tremendous pass from Gabriel Vilardi and ripped it into the corner for his 25th of the year. Vilardi and Mark Scheifele drew the assists.

However, after that goal, the Canadiens took control. Montreal outshot Winnipeg 6-0 in the final seven minutes of the period and tied the game at 16:26 when Oliver Kapanen banged a loose puck into a wide-open Jets net. The building erupted as Kapanen scored his 18th of the season.

By the end of the period, the Jets had outshot Montreal 13-11 and had lost a grip of their territorial dominance. It didn’t help that Winnipeg barely won 33 per cent of the faceoffs.

In the second period, the Canadiens blew it open. Josh Anderson scored an unassisted goal at 5:28 and then Lane Hutson notched a highlight reel tally on a great move at the net at 6:44 to essentially put it away.

The Canadiens youth, speed and confidence was simply too much for a an old, slow, struggling Jets team that really needs the Olympic break.

Amazingly, the Jets outshot Montreal 13-9 in the second period (26-20 after 40 minutes), but their inability to finish was problematic.

The Habs celebrate another goal (Photo by Danny Truong)

In the third period, the Jets came out quickly and were all over the Canadiens, but again, their inability to finish was the curse they could not overcome.

Eventually, at 10:57 on their 22nd shot of the game, Brendan Gallagher scored to make it 4-1 and that was all she wrote. Despite some pressure from the Jets late in the third (Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck with 5:20 left to play), the Habs coasted to their 32nd win of the season, as Phillip Danault scored an empty-netter with 13 seconds remaining.

The Jets outshot Montreal 37-27 and had at least a dozen solid scoring chances, but they either have no luck around the net, or they simply don’t have the skill to finish.