Jets rally from 4-0 deficit to beat Canadiens 5-4 in overtime at Bell Centre
The Winnipeg Jets overturned a 4-0 third-period deficit to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, ending a nine-game losing streak with Dylan Samberg’s 3:30 overtime wrist shot securing the win.
Winnipeg had been trailing by four goals with less than three minutes remaining in regulation and were fighting to avoid a 10th straight defeat in their fifth game in eight nights; the Jets entered the contest amid scrutiny over their coach’s future and after the season was unsettled when former MVP goalie Connor Hellebuyck asked for a trade. The Bell Centre crowd expected a Canadiens victory, but winger Kyle Connor said he still believed in a comeback, offering one-word reassurance: “Always.”
The scoring swing unfolded rapidly: Tyrel Bauer scored his first NHL goal with 2:39 remaining to start the rally, Morgan Barron made it 4-2 at 18:03 with Bauer credited with an assist that completed Bauer’s Gordie Howe hat-trick, and Connor delivered two one-timers 27 seconds apart with the goalie pulled—the second coming on the power play—to force overtime before Samberg finished the job. Winnipeg scored four goals in two minutes and six seconds to draw level with 33 seconds left in regulation.
Canadiens rookie Jacob Fowler had been outstanding during the comeback build-up, making 19 saves in the second period alone and looking dominant on several stops, including attempts by Mark Scheifele; the article notes the 21-year-old American was the NHL’s rookie of the month for October. Despite Fowler’s earlier resistance, Samberg beat him in overtime for the decisive goal at 3:30.
Tyrel Bauer’s night included a physical confrontation and a pivotal scoring moment: the sixth-round pick, playing in his 10th NHL game, dropped the gloves with Canadiens heavyweight Arber Xhekaj at 9:20 remaining, and Xhekaj was later joined in the penalty box by his younger brother Florian, both pictured grinning on the arena’s big screen. Bauer scored his first career goal at 2:39 and reflected afterward: “That’s a long, hard stretch, but this group believed in each other,” said Bauer, his fists still dripping blood after his tilt with the older Xhekaj. “We had each other’s backs in that room, the guys had my back on the ice tonight. I blacked out for the rest of it. I don’t know if I wanted to win a hockey game more in my life.”
Montreal players and coach Martin St Louis struggled to account for the collapse after holding a 4-0 lead; winger Cole Caufield, who scored his second of the game early in the third to make it 4-0, said: “I guess [we] thought the game was over. We had a four-goal lead. There’s no excuse for this. It’s terrible.” St Louis added: “We were winning, but we weren’t outplaying them. If you look at the game as a whole, forget the score, Winnipeg was the better team tonight. How the whole thing happened, that’s hard to explain. I’ve never been part of anything like that.”
The Jets had been seeking their first victory since 13 October and their first since Hellebuyck’s trade to the New Jersey Devils, coming off a 7-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday that Connor called a “low point.” Jets coach Scott Arniel said: “I’m so happy that we won tonight and we got that win. This isn’t February and March. To me, we’re still in the hunt. Going into this game, we were four points out of a playoff spot in the West. You just gotta stay in the pack. I know it’s been a grind for us, but we just gotta stay in it. And hopefully this is the jump-start that we needed.”