Carey Price makes 30 saves, Canadiens blank Jets to go home with 2-0 series lead
Carey Price stopped 30 shots for his eighth career playoff shutout, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets 1-0 on Friday for a 2-0 lead in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Tyler Toffoli's short-handed goal 1:41 into the second period held up as the game-winner.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for the Jets.
Game 3 is Sunday in Montreal, followed by Game 4 the next night. Teams that take a 2-0 lead on the road are 82-20 (80.4 per cent) in winning a best-of-seven playoff series, including 2-0 this season (Winnipeg and Tampa Bay).
The Jets were without leading scorer and No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele, who was starting a four-game suspension for charging into Canadiens forward Jake Evans in the final minute of Wednesday's 5-3 Montreal win.
Scheifele sent Evans flying onto the ice after he scored into an empty net. Evans hit his head and was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher but was evaluated and didn't go to hospital. He's sidelined indefinitely with a concussion and was replaced by Artturi Lehkonen.
Pierre-Luc Dubois centred Winnipeg's top line with Kyle Connor on the left and captain Blake Wheeler on the other side.
Jets centre Paul Stastny missed his second game of the series with an undisclosed injury. Defenceman Jordie Benn took the roster spot of Dylan DeMelo, who coach Paul Maurice said suffered a soft-tissue injury in Wednesday's game.
Winnipeg outshot the visitors 8-7 in the first period, which didn't reveal any carryover of anger or big hits from Wednesday's tilt.
The game's first penalty led to Toffoli's short-handed marker at 1:41 after Canadiens forward Paul Byron was called for high-sticking 22 seconds into the second period.
Emotions seemed to turn up a notch later in the second, when scrambling players to the side of Hellebuyck starting shoving and pushing each other. The Canadiens led 17-16 in shots on goal after the middle frame.
The Jets turned up the tempo early in the third, but two shots they sent toward Price hit their own players first. Winnipeg then had a power play, but Price stopped Josh Morrissey's blast from the point.
Hellebuyck was pulled for the extra attacker with 2:04 remaining, but Montreal's defence tightened and helped Price out. Toffoli also hit the post of the empty net and Price denied Connor.
Winnipeg again hosted 500 fully vaccinated health-care workers for the game at Bell MTS Place.
When the Canadiens return home, they'll also have fans in the stands. The club was the first NHL team in Canada to have a crowd this year, allowing 2,500 fans to attend Game 6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs after Quebec loosened restrictions.
The Leafs followed up by covering the cost for 550 fully vaccinated health-care workers to attend Game 7 against the Canadiens after Ontario gave the green light, then Manitoba gave the go-ahead for Wednesday's series opener.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.