FINAL | Round 2, Game 3 | Sunday June 6, 2021

Canadiens lead series 3-0

Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Artturi Lehkonen – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Josh Anderson

Joel Armia – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Erik Gustafsson

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Tomas Tatar, Michael Frolik, Alexander Romanov, Charlie Lindgren

Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylonen, Cale Fleury, Otto Leskinen, Xavier Ouellet, Cayden Primeau, Michael McNiven

Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), Jon Merrill (undisclosed), Jake Evans (concussion)

Game Report

The Winnipeg Jets were determined to set the tone by playing a strong first period. Carey Price had to be sharp once again. But it was the Canadiens fourth line that established the momentum early with a lengthy shift that maintained offensive pressure in the Jets zone culminating with a goal by Corey Perry. The opening marker was assisted by linemates Eric Staal and Joel Armia.

Fast forwarding to the midpoint of the game, it was the relentless effort from an unheralded Hab as Artturi Lehkonen fought to put a loose puck behind Connor Hellebuyck. Since his return to the lineup, all Lehkonen has done has setup the game-winner in game 2 and score the game winning goal tonight. That’s clutch.

But it was Joel Armia’s short-handed goal in the second period that took the wind out of the Jets sails. Armia added a second shortie in the waning minutes of the game, giving him a three-point night. 

Carey Price stopped all 25 of 26 shots for a .963 save percentage on the night. Overall, Price has a .938 save percentage in the playoffs this season, tops in the NHL. In Winnipeg’s post-game media availability, Price’s name was mentioned frequently by Jets shooters.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, bumped into the number one centre position for the Jets, has been a dud in this series for the Jets. It must have been a little unsettling for Marc Bergevin, who aggressively pursued Dubois, a Quebec native, at the beginning of this season and at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Dubois was booed by Bell Centre fans as he carried the puck up the ice in the third period.

The Canadiens have now won six straight games for the first time since March 2017. Since game five of round one, Montreal has never trailed. Yet, it appears some media are still having difficulty believing that the Canadiens are real.

What the Habs are doing is extremely impressive against one team that didn't have John Tavares and could play defense, and another team that didn't have Mark Scheifele and apparently can only play defense when Dylan DeMelo is healthy.

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 7, 2021

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