THE JETS FALL TO THE HABS 5-1 IN THEIR FIRST GAME IN WINNIPEG

GOAL SCORERS

MTL:   M. Cammalleri (03:05 - 1st) , T. Plekanec (14:17 - 2nd) , Y. Weber (PPG, 04:51 - 3rd) , T. Moen (10:31 - 3rd) , M. Pacioretty (12:32 - 3rd)

WPG:   N. Antropov (02:27 - 3rd)

GOALIES

MTL: C. Price (W)

 WPG: O. Pavelec (L)

           




                Congratulations Winnipeg, the Jets are back! They played their first game in the NHL today since April 26th 1996 against the Detroit Red Wings. The Jets lost that game 4-1 and that's close to how they took off today against the Montreal Canadiens. 3 minutes into the first, Oduya gave the puck away right to Cammalleri and he scored top shelf over the glove of Pavelec to make it 1-0 Habs lead. 3 minutes later, Eric Cole got the puck on a turn over and fired a shot and it was stopped and Gomez was denied again by Pavelec. With 6 minutes to go in the first, Plekanec came in with Gionta ona 2 on 1 and Plekanec played it to Gionta (on the right wing) and his shot was stopped by Pavelec.


              Late in the first, with the Jets on a powerplay, Antropov had a breakaway and he was stopped by the glove of Carey Price. So the score was 1-0 after 1. But after the first, both Cammalleri and Spacek left the game with injuries. Cammalleri had a cut on the top of his knee, and Spacek had injured his rib cadge. Cammalleri will be out from 1-2 weeks and no word yet on Spacek. 5 minutes into the second, Kane (on the left) shot the puck from the faceoff dot and it was stopped by Price with the glove. It was something you had to see to believe. What a save. Then late in the second, Plekanec deked his way past Oduya and came in on a breakaway and went from backhand to forehand and scored to make it 2-0 Montreal after 2 periods.

          2:27 into the third, Stuart`s point shot was stopped, but Antropov put home the rebound for the Jets first goal of the season. 3 minutes later, the Habs went on a 4-on-3 powerplay. Plekanec played the puck to Weber and he one-timed a shot past Pavelec to make it 3-1 Montreal. 2 minutes later, Moen had a breakaway and he scored to make it 4-1. Pacioretty would add another goal as the Habs spoil the Jets party with a 5-1 win. In the win, Price made 30 saves. In the loss, Pavelec made 17 saves on 22 shots."It was a pretty unique situation," Jets captain Andrew Ladd said. "It's still not an excuse and we have to come up with a way better performance than that. But definitely a different situation and something that you know you're not going to have the chance to do this again. It's pretty disappointing with the outcome."

            As the clock ran down in the third, the Jets were given a standing ovation for their return to Winnipeg. "That's pretty incredible," said forward Mark Scheifele, who played his first NHL game. "In Barrie, when we'd lose, people would be leaving halfway through the second period. Definitely to hear that, to get a standing ovation when we lose, it just shows that we're going to have fans behind us regardless." This game was an even game until the third, where the Habs (who had 3 goals in that period) were out shot 14-6. But overall the Jets played well but couldn`t score and the Habs were able to. Thats why the Habs won."We gave up some free pizzas in the middle of the ice," Jets Coach Noel said. "The first one ... that's exactly what good players do. Turnovers result in goals. One chance, and it's in the back of your net."

Written By Andrew Di Pardo