The Canadian Press
Kelsey Patterson
MONTREAL–Veteran forward Ilya Kovalchuk felt good in his Montreal Canadiens debut despite not getting the win.
Kovalchuk had an assist and four shots in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night, Montreal’s sixth straight defeat.
The 36-year-old also had six hits and a plus-2 rating in 19:25 of ice time.
“I was a little nervous and it took me a few shifts to get into the rhythm because I didn’t play for two months,” said Kovalchuk, who agreed to a one-year, two-way contract last week. “When the people trust me, then you want to give everything. Coach put me in and I tried my best.
“It’s just the beginning. I have to work hard to get better. We lost the game, so nobody can be pleased. It can be better.”
Kovalchuk had three goals and six assists in 17 games with Los Angeles before the Kings placed him on waivers last month. His previous game was on Nov. 9 against his new team at Bell Centre.
Down 2-1 early in the third, Kovalchuk nearly scored from the slot but the puck bounced over his stick. He crashed the net a few minutes later but could not jam a loose puck past Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
Still 2-1 Winnipeg with 9:44 remaining in the game, Andrew Copp scored the insurance goal. Copp stole the puck from Cale Fleury at Winnipeg’s blue line, skated the length of the ice and beat Price five-hole on the breakaway.
Former Jets player Ben Chiarot netted his second of the game less than two minutes later, a wrist shot from the face-off dot that beat Hellebuyck blocker side to make it 3-2 but that’s as close as the Canadiens (18-18-7) would get.
After a scoreless first period, the Jets (23-16-4) took a 2-0 lead five minutes into the second.
Josh Morrissey got the breakthrough at 1:32 with a wrist shot from the blue line into heavy traffic. The puck took a slight deviation off Jeff Petry’s hip and into the back of the net.
The visitors doubled their lead at 4:46 while playing shorthanded. A mishandled puck by Tomas Tatar in the neutral zone created a 2-on-0 breakaway for captain Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers, who exchanged passes before beating Price.
It was the third short-handed goal allowed by the Canadiens this year.
In other NHL action last night, Edmonton downed Toronto 6-4; the N.Y. Islanders blanked Colorado 1-0; and Columbus doubled L.A. 4-2.
