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 Left winger Ladd got an assist when Winnipeg right winger Michael
Frolik scored 1:04 into the third period to send the Jets on to a
2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Ladd stripped the puck from Montreal goalie Carey Price in front of
the goal line in the left corner to set up the goal that restored
Winnipeg's one-goal lead.
Ladd fed the puck out front to Frolik, who scored his 12th goal
before Price could scramble back to the net.
"I just wanted to get enough speed and I was able to get there
pretty quick," Ladd said. "I think I caught (Price) a little off
guard and then I tried to bank it off him and it ended up going
right on Fro's stick, so a lucky break a little bit there, but it
was obviously a big goal."
Goalie Al Montoya made 30 saves and defenseman Tobias Enstrom scored
midway through the second for Winnipeg, which won 4-3 against
Vancouver on Friday.
"We knew they played (Saturday) so we had to jump on them in the
first period, but give it off to the guys, we battled," said
Montoya, who started for just the second time in 12 games. "We might
not have had it the whole night but we put it together when we had
to and good things happened."
The Jets have won eight of 10 games since Paul Maurice was hired to
replace Claude Noel as head coach on Jan. 12.
"I think he's got over 1,000 games so he knows what he's doing,"
Frolik said. "We just play for each other. Obviously, when the
change happened, it's never easy, but we just said in the room that
we've got to play for each other. It didn't really change that much,
but the battle level and blocking shots, it's better and everybody's
focused on the game and we're rolling four lines, and it's been
working."
Right winger Brian Gionta drew Montreal even at 1-1 late in the
second period.
Price stopped 33 shots for the Canadiens, who lost 2-1 to Tampa Bay
in overtime Saturday. "It's obviously tough, but in hindsight we faced two pretty hot
goaltenders and we didn't get enough breaks," Price said.
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Montreal, which was outshot 35-31, is on a 2-5-1 skid.
"I thought we played a pretty good game," Gionta said. "We forced
the play a lot; an unlucky break on their second one, but for the
most part we had some pretty good effort there tonight."
Enstrom opened the scoring with his sixth goal midway through the
second period. Jets right winger Chris Thorburn backed into Montreal
defenseman Nathan Beaulieu to open up a lane for Enstrom to carry
the puck behind the net. Enstrom then beat Price with a shot inside
the right post 9:13 into the middle period.
Montoya had caught a break moments earlier when Montreal right
winger Brandon Prust's tipped shot struck the right post 7:40 into
the second.
Gionta fired a shot off the left post later in the period before
scoring his 10th goal at 17:06. The Canadiens captain took a pass
from center Tomas Plekanec and snapped a shot past Montoya into the
top right corner from the right side of the slot.
NOTES: This was the 23rd time Montreal has hosted a pair of matinee
games on Super Bowl weekend. ... Jets G Ondrej Pavelec had started
10 of Winnipeg's previous 11 games. ... D Zach Redmond and C Eric
O'Dell did not dress for the Jets. ... Montreal D Douglas Murray
played his 500th game. Murray, who signed a one-year contract with
Montreal as a free agent on Aug. 22, began his career with San Jose
in 2005-06. He played 14 games with Pittsburgh last season after he
was traded to the Penguins by the Sharks on Mar. 25, 2013, and he
has played 35 games with Montreal. ... Canadiens LW Michael
Bournival returned after missing Montreal's 2-1 overtime loss to the
Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday because of illness. ... Canadiens RW
Christian Thomas played his second straight game since being
recalled from AHL Hamilton on Friday to make his Montreal debut. ...
RW George Parros, D Francis Bouillon and D Raphael Diaz were healthy
scratches for Montreal.
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