Jets' string of OT success continues as Dubois tally sinks Canadiens
Winnipeg moves to 5-0 in overtime games; Montreal falls to 0-4
Pierre-Luc Dubois proved to be a huge pain for his hometown Montreal Canadiens.
The native of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que., scored with 31 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 win over Montreal on Thursday night. Dubois fired a rolling puck over Canadiens goalie Jake Allen's shoulder for his fifth of the season.
"It [Bell Centre] is a very special place to play," Dubois said. "There are no fans [due to COVID-19 pandemic] so it takes away a little bit of that this year but I have a lot of friends and family who were watching the game.
"Obviously if it wasn't COVID they would've been here and it probably would've been more fun, more special. But a win is a win, two points is two points, especially in this division where it feels like a lot of teams are close. We're at the midway point in the season so every two points are important right now."
Winnipeg improved to 5-0 in overtime this season while Montreal fell to 0-4. All four of the Jets' goals were scored by Quebec-born players.
WATCH | Dubois gives Jets edge over Habs in last minute of OT:
Paul Stastny, born in Quebec City but plays internationally for the U.S., had two goals for the Jets (15-7-1) while Mathieu Perreault, of Drummondville, Que., scored the other. Winnipeg opened a five-game road trip with a third straight win this season over Montreal and has captured six of its last seven overall.
"It's always special, it's always fun to come back here," said the 35-year-old Stastny. "It's always a special place to play and for me it's where I scored my first goal.
Both Allen (23 saves) and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck (33 stops) came up big in overtime.
Allen stopped Kyle Connor on a breakaway before turning away Blake Wheeler on a 2-on-1. Not to be outdone, Hellebuyck came up big on Montreal's Paul Byron in the extra period.
Corey Perry forced overtime with his third goal of the season at 18:36 of the third. It came with Allen on the bench for the extra attacker.
Stastny put Winnipeg ahead 3-2 with his second goal of the game at 3:39 of the period.
Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Montreal (10-7-5), which fell to 1-1-2 since interim head coach Dominique Ducharme took over after Claude Julien was fired Feb. 24.
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The Jets were opportunistic in the contest, taking advantage of Montreal mistakes in its own end. That's something Ducharme hopes his team will clean up when it closes out a three-game homestand hosting Winnipeg again Saturday night.
"We can cut down on those mistakes for sure," he said. "We don't need to go into details . . . guys know right after the play. We'll clean that up.
"Maybe sometimes it's about luck a little bit but something we control is high-percentage plays. Doing those things all the time, then luck is more on your side. We had too many of those [mistakes] tonight."
Allen got the start in goal after veteran Carey Price stopped 26 shots in a 3-1 in over Ottawa on Tuesday. That snapped the Canadiens' five-game winless skid.
Stastny opened the scoring at 10:39 of the first with his sixth of the season. Wheeler fired a pass in front that went off Stastny's skate and past Allen.
Perreault put Winnipeg ahead 2-0 at 15:25. Perreault converted a Toffoli turnover into his fifth of the season, beating Allen on the backhand.
Montreal outshot Winnipeg 13-5 in the second and scored twice to force a 2-2 tie. Gallagher converted on the power play at 9:53, firing a loose puck in front past Hellebuyck for his eighth of the year.
Toffoli made up for his miscue in the first with his 14th of the season at 16:53. It marked the second straight game that he's scored.
