Canadiens use seven goals to defeat Jets

WINNIPEG-- Phillip Danault and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Winnipeg Jets 7-4 at MTS Centre on Wednesday.
Sven Andrighetto and Brian Flynn each had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens (26-10-6). Al Montoya made 23 saves.
"I feel we played a good game," Andrighetto said. "We supported each other well. We kept it easy, especially in the neutral zone. We brought it deep behind them and worked from there."

WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Jets highlights
Mark Scheifele scored twice, and Mathieu Perreault and Bryan Little scored for the Jets (20-21-3).
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck was replaced by Michael Hutchinson after allowing three goals on seven shots in his sixth straight start. Hutchinson made 19 saves.
Montreal took a 1-0 lead 57 seconds into the first period when Danault backhanded a shot past Hellebuyck. Flynn made it 2-0 at 4:19, giving Montreal two goals on three shots.
"For us, I'll say that we want to play our game," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "We want to play a fast-paced game and we want to dictate from the start and move on from our last game (a 4-1 home loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday). And this is what we did. First shift set the tone of the game and we went from there."

Scheifele made it 2-1 at 6:07, and Perreault tied it 2-2 at 12:58, taking a pass from Blake Wheeler in the slot and putting his wrist shot high on Montoya's glove side.
Plekanec, who missed the morning skate because of the flu, scored his second goal in as many games, fifth of the season, to make it 3-2 at 14:01.
"They had a couple of quick ones, and we were fighting our way back the whole game and we couldn't quite get there," Little said. "We'd score one and they'd score two. We just didn't have an answer. We weren't good enough."
Andrighetto made it 4-2, tapping in a deflected shot attempt from Flynn 53 seconds into the second period. Danault made it 5-2 at 4:31.
"Obviously, I saw the space in front of me and I just took it and it ended up being a good goal," Danault said.
Scheifele's 19th of the season made it 5-3 35 seconds later. Lehkonen made it 6-3 at 4:10 and 7-3 at 9:05 of the third period, and Little scored at 10:04 to make it 7-4.
"Every time we came back, it just seemed like it was going in the net," Jets forward Blake Wheeler said. "We just didn't do a good enough job picking up our guys and gave up a little too much."

Goal of the game

Danault took the puck the length of the ice, deking Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien along the way before putting a wrist shot past Hutchinson.

Save of the game

Montoya made a glove save on a tipped shot by Joel Armia to preserve a 2-1 lead in the first period.

Highlight of the game

Hutchinson stopped Max Pacioretty's initial shot on a breakaway and kicked out his right pad to make a second save on the rebound.

Unsung performance of the game

Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber had two assists, three shots and was plus-3 with four blocked shots playing 25:03.

They said it

"You don't see those types of goals very often in the NHL. For the young kid, it's good for his confidence. He's playing really well. There's a reason we put him out there. He was always a good skater, he can move the puck and protect the puck well and he's responsible at both sides of the ice." -- Canadiens coach Michel Therrien on Phillip Danault's second-period goal
"You deal with it. We aren't sweeping this one under the rug. We're going to take a good look at all of it and make sure we appreciate the value of playing in the National Hockey League and playing a game at home, the cost every NHL game demands, the willingness to pay that price." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice

Need to know

Montoya has won three straight starts. … Pacioretty has five goals and three assists in his past eight games. … Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (five goals, three assists). … Scheifele has four goals and three assists in his past six games.

What's next

Canadiens: At the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNE, RDS, NHL.TV)
Jets: At the Arizona Coyotes on Friday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, TSN3, NHL.TV)