Tomas Tatar scored twice in the first period and Phillip Danault did the same in the second as the visiting Montreal Canadiens recorded a 6-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
Max Domi scored a goal and set up Artturi Lehkonen's tally, and Carey Price finished with 27 saves as the Canadiens posted their sixth win in eight games heading into the NHL's holiday break.
Kyle Connor scored a power-play goal in the first period and Patrik Laine also tallied for the Jets, who have lost three of their past four games.
Connor's 15th goal of the season and fourth in six games opened the scoring at 11:30 of the first period before Tatar converted a seam pass from Nick Suzuki to forge a tie at 15:06.
Tatar tallied again just 92 seconds later after cleaning up a rebound following captain Shea Weber's blast from the point. Tatar's second goal of the period boosted his season total to 15, matching Brendan Gallagher for the club lead.
Montreal kept the pressure on in the second period with Gallagher being denied twice by Laurent Brossoit (42 saves) before Danault batted the puck out of the air to make it 3-1 at 4:37.
Danault gave the Canadiens a 4-1 lead just 4:19 later, winning the faceoff before beating Brossoit from the left circle for his 10th of the season.
Laine's sixth goal in seven games trimmed the deficit at 16:14 of the second period before Domi effectively sealed the win. Domi scored his ninth goal of the season with 40 seconds left in the period before finding Lehkonen on the doorstep with 8:52 remaining in the third.
Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot logged 26:06 of ice time in his first game against his former team. The 28-year-old played 305 regular-season games for the Jets over six seasons before signing a three-year contract with the Canadiens on July 4.
Montreal defenseman Victor Mete returned to the lineup after a 10-game absence due to an ankle injury.
--Field Level Media
Montreal | Winnipeg | |
Phillip Danault 2 | Points | Mark Scheifele 2 |
Phillip Danault 2 | Goals | Kyle Connor 1 |
Brendan Gallagher 2 | Assists | Mark Scheifele 2 |
Tomas Tatar 1 | Power Play Goals | Kyle Connor 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Carey Price .931 | Save Percentage | Laurent Brossoit .875 |
Carey Price 27 | Saves | Laurent Brossoit 42 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Montreal | 48 | 6 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 36 |
Winnipeg | 29 | 2 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 4 | 33 |