Canadiens heading to Conference Final after sweeping the Jets

Jun 8 2021, 3:01 am

The Montreal Canadiens are the champions of the North Division. Tyler Toffoli sent the 2,500 fans at Bell Centre into a frenzy with the overtime winner to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win in Game 4 on Monday, capping off a sweep of the Winnipeg Jets and booking Montreal’s ticket to the Conference Final.

The Canadiens have won seven straight games and have still not trailed at all during that stretch.

Erik Gustafsson opened the scoring for the Habs on a power play in the first period.

Montreal scored the first goal for the seventh straight game and improved to 8-1 in these playoffs when scoring the first goal.

The Habs added to their lead with under a minute to go in the first. Artturi Lehkonen scored for the second straight game, deflecting a Brett Kulak shot past Connor Hellebuyck.

The Jets responded in the second period, though. Specifically, Logan Stanley responded. Not even two minutes into the frame, Stanley beat Carey Price with a great shot by his blocker.

Not even four minutes later, Stanley struck again. In a rare instance of Price allowing a bad goal in the playoffs, Stanley beat him by his glove this time.

The Habs seemed to be doing everything they could to end this tonight, finishing with a 42-16 edge in shots. Hellebuyck, though, was doing everything he could to send the series back to Winnipeg.

Aside from Hellebuyck, the rest of Winnipeg’s stars just didn’t get enough done in this series. The Canadiens were able to shut them down the same way they shut down the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top players in the first round.

Kyle Connor finished the series with one goal and two assists. Nikolaj Ehlers had just one assist. Blake Wheeler didn’t have a point. Neither did Mark Scheifele, who only played one game due to the four-game suspension he was handed for his hit on Jake Evans late in Game 1.

The Canadiens swept a series for the first time since sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. They’re also off to the third round for the first time since 2014.

The Habs will face either the Colorado Avalanche or Vegas Golden Knights in the next round. That series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 going Tuesday at 9 pm ET at Ball Arena in Denver.

Jack WeberJack Weber

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