The Montreal Canadiens are one game away from sweeping the Winnipeg Jets and earning a berth to the semifinals.
They took home a Game Three victory Sunday, winning the contest 5-1 to take a 3-0 series lead.
Joel Armia had two goals and an assist for the Canadiens, while Corey Perry, Artturi Lehkonen, and Nick Suzuki also scored.
Adam Lowry had the lone goal for the Jets. Winnipeg was fortunate enough to have Paul Stastny back in the lineup after he missed the first two games due to an undisclosed injury.
This is the first time the Habs have led a playoff series 3-0 since 2015, when they defeated the Ottawa Senators in the first round. The last time they swept a playoff series was in 2014 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Montreal hasn’t trailed a game in this year’s playoffs since Game Four against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last round. They’ve won six post-season games in a row.
And now, the Jets are in tough. Everyone knows the stats on teams down 3-0 in a series, with only four clubs coming back from that deficit in NHL history. The Los Angeles Kings did it in 2014 against the San Jose Sharks.
But momentum is going Montreal’s way and it’s hard to imagine this series swinging back to Winnipeg, especially as the Canadiens have another chance to put 2,500 fans in the building and generate noise from their live crowd.
The Habs had the shooting edge on Sunday, eclipsing the Jets 33-27. Winnipeg brought a more physical game to the Bell Centre, but they also took more penalties.
As a result, Montreal was one for five on the power play. The Jets couldn’t capitalize on two man-advantage tries.
If there was any bad news for the Canadiens, it was that defenceman Jeff Petry was forced to leave the game early due to an upper body injury. He’s due to undergo tests before his status for tomorrow’s Game Four is confirmed.
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