WINNIPEG 鈥� Justin Barron couldn鈥檛 have picked a better audience to see him score an overtime power-play goal that lifted the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
The defenceman fired the puck through traffic to beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck 1:09 into the extra period in front of his parents and his brother 鈥� Jets forward Morgan Barron, who was on the ice.
鈥淧retty cool,鈥� said Justin Barron, the younger brother. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 necessarily expecting to get on the ice there and then it鈥檚 funny how it works out. (Adam) Lowry goes off so my brother gets on for them, and then (Mike Matheson) goes off for us and I get on. Yeah, definitely pretty special to do that.鈥�
He planned to text his brother about the victory, but didn鈥檛 send it right after the game.
鈥淣o, no, god no. I鈥檒l go see my family and say hi to them, but I can鈥檛 rub it in yet, I don鈥檛 think,鈥� he said.
Jets forward Cole Perfetti tied the game 2-2 off a rebound with 7:36 remaining in the third period.
Winnipeg winger Nikolaj Ehlers was called for tripping with 27 seconds left in the third period.
Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said his team is 鈥渓ocked in right now.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the most organized that we鈥檝e been since I鈥檝e taken this job,鈥� said St. Louis, who was first hired on an interim basis in February 2022.
鈥淚t takes time to build that, different parts of the game, and we鈥檙e able to expand on some of the details inside the different concepts, different part of the game that we want to address. So I think we鈥檙e just evolving as a team, but as a group I feel we鈥檙e really locked in.鈥�
Josh Anderson had a goal and assist and Christian Dvorak also scored for the Canadiens (14-13-4), who have points in four of their past five games (3-1-1).
Anderson鈥檚 fourth goal of the season followed the pair he scored in Montreal鈥檚 5-3 win over the New York Islanders last Saturday.
Jake Allen made 30 saves for his first win in eight games (1-6-1). His previous victory was a 4-3 shootout win over the Jets on Oct. 28.
鈥淚 feel like the last few games I鈥檝e been playing well, just haven鈥檛 found a way to get that win and I鈥檓 just going to stay patient,鈥� Allen said.
Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets (18-9-3), who snapped a two-game win streak. Hellebuyck finished with 23 saves in front of 13,363 fans in the second game of a four-game homestand at Canada Life Centre.
鈥淚t was a good team comeback to get that point, it's big for us, but obviously we don't want to put ourselves in a 2-0 hole in the first place,鈥� Perfetti said.
鈥淥nce we have momentum like that, we want to be able to win that game. A little frustrating, it sucks, but it's the way it is.鈥�
There was no scoring in the first period and Montreal led 2-1 after the second.
Shots in the opening period favoured Winnipeg 6-5, with Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg and Perfetti each hitting a post.
Winnipeg went on the power play early in the second period, but three shots didn鈥檛 beat Allen.
鈥淟isten, in that first period, there wasn鈥檛 much room out there for either team,鈥� Jets coach Rick Bowness said. 鈥淚t was fast-paced, it was a good period.
鈥淪econd period, honestly it comes down to special teams. It鈥檚 another game that we lost (the special-teams battle) and that鈥檚 what cost us the extra point.鈥�
Anderson got the visitors on the board when Matheson fired the puck at the net and it went in off Anderson鈥檚 skate at 4:57.
Anderson also factored into Dvorak鈥檚 power-play goal at 15:04.
Bowness unsuccessfully challenged the goal. Anderson had gloved the puck in the air but didn鈥檛 appear to get his stick on it before it went over to Dvorak and he put it in the net.
鈥淵ou feel it hit your stick, but you don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 somebody touching your stick or if it鈥檚 the puck,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淥bviously, they reviewed it and counted it as a good goal so I鈥檒l take it.鈥�
Vilardi made it 2-1 with 56 seconds left in the period when he capitalized on a loose puck at the side of the net. It marked his fifth goal of the season and fourth in his past three games.
Winnipeg went on the power play 45 seconds into the third, but couldn鈥檛 tie it up.
Perfetti achieved that at 12:24 with his 10th goal of the season and 20th point in 30 games.
FRANCHISE STREAKS
The Jets are still riding a franchise streak of only allowing three or fewer goals in 20 consecutive games.
Winnipeg also leads the league this season with 25 games of holding opponents to three or fewer goals.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
Canadiens: Play on the road Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2023.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
