Scheifele scores twice as Jets grab wild win over Canadiens

Mark Scheifele scored twice, added an assist and fought to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick in his first game against Montreal since his playoff suspension as the Winnipeg Jets hammered the Canadiens 8-4.

WINNIPEG -- Mark Scheifele scored twice and added an assist to spoil a spirited Montreal come back and lead the Winnipeg Jets to an 8-4 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Pierre-Luc Dubois also had a goal and two assists as the Jets (24-21-9) snapped Montreal’s five-game winning streak. Paul Stastny, Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, Nate Schmidt and Evgeny Svechnikov also scored for Winnipeg.

Josh Anderson scored three goals in a losing cause for Montreal (13-34-7). Artturi Lehkonen scored the other Montreal marker.

The Jets had blown a 4-0 first-period lead, but rebounded to take the lead late in the second period. They then added two more in the third.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 31-of-35 shots for Winnipeg at Canada Life Centre.

Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault made 17 saves on 23 shots before being replaced by Andrew Hammond at 5:49 of the third. Hammond made five saves on six shots.

Winnipeg took a 6-4 lead early in the third period. Scheifele scored a power-play goal when he banked in a shot off Montembeault’s back from behind the net. Captain Blake Wheeler assisted.

After the Canadiens tied the game 4-4, Copp gave Winnipeg a 5-4 lead on the power play with 2:43 left in the second period. Copp fired a shot from the faceoff circle past Montembeault. Neal Pionk and Stastny assisted.

That goal came mere moments after Montreal centre Rem Pitlick missed on a short-handed penalty shot.

Anderson knotted the score at 4-4 just 4:08 into the second period, converting a two-on-one with centre Ryan Poehling, and completing a hat trick.

After the Jets had jumped to a 4-0 first-period lead, Montreal scored three straight goals to pull to within one before the opening 20 minutes had ended.

Anderson scored his first goal when beat Hellebuyck with a bad-angle shot at 11:18. Jeff Petry assisted. Anderson followed that up when he pounced on a rebound of Cole Caufield’s point shot on the power play at 17:00 to make it 4-2. Nick Suzuki also assisted. Then, Montreal centre Jake Evans intercepted a Josh Morrissey pass and sent Lehkonen in alone on Hellebuyck and beat him cleanly to make it 4-3 at the 18:28 mark.

Scheifele had given Winnipeg a 4-0 lead at the 9:13 mark. His one-timer on a pass from Dubois beat Montembault. Kyle Connor also assisted. Lowry had given Winnipeg a 3-0 lead when he deked Montembault and scored on a backhand, converting a two-on-one with defenceman Dylan DeMelo.

The Jets had scored goals 36 seconds apart to open the game. Svechnikov tipped a pass from Schmidt past Montembeault at 5:21. Connor also assisted. Schmidt then upped the mark to 2-0 with a point shot that beat Montembault. Dubois and Svechnikov assisted.

It was the first of a four-game homestand for Winnipeg, who will play host to the Dallas Stars on Friday.

The Canadiens will face the Flames in Calgary on Thursday.

NOTES – After a tribute to Ukraine as it endures an invasion by Russia and a call for peace, the Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus kicked off the proceedings with an emotional rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem. That was followed by a rousing Canadian national anthem. The crowd responded with standing ovations … Jets forward Andrew Copp returned to action after missing six games with a concussion … Captain Blake Wheeler played his 800th game with the Jets.

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