MONTREAL (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Thursday night to open a five-game trip.
Josh Morrissey, Trevor Lewis, Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp scored for the Jets. They improved to 24-13-3, with only two regulation losses in their last nine games.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler is sidelined indefinitely by head injury. Wheeler was elbowed in the head in Winnipeg’s 4-3 win over Ottawa on Monday. He won’t join the Jets on the trip.
“It’s always tough playing without your top players and obviously Wheels is a huge part of this team and we miss him,” Jets forward Trevor Lewis said. “But I thought we came out (strong) early and played well.”
Phillip Danault and Paul Byron scored for the Canadiens, and Jake Allen made 23 saves.
“Tonight I thought we were moving in the first period,” Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. “But we had three decisions -- or three plays -- that we didn’t react well.”
Canadiens starting goalie Carey Price is not expected to be available until next week because of a lower-body injury.
The teams will complete the two-game set in Montreal on Saturday night.
