Power Outage: Jets Fall 2-1 to Canadiens in Heritage Classic

Maybe it's time to keep hockey at the rink downtown.

Ten years after their 3-0 shutout loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Investors Group Field, the Winnipeg Jets nearly found a way to repeat some not-so-favourable history. Save for a late-third period goal from Isak Rosen, the Jets nearly pitched another donut at home outside.

Ultimately, Winnipeg dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting Montreal Canadiens from Princess Auto Stadium in the 2026 Heritage Classic on Sunday evening.

“It was a spectacular spectacle," captain Adam Lowry said of the event. "It takes you back to youth hockey, it takes you back to growing up when you fell in love with the game. Obviously a disappointing result, but I thought the NHL and Winnipeg fans did a great job making it another great event.”

The Jets had 10 years to figure it out, but were unable to find a win outside. At least this time around they got a goal... Maybe, just maybe, hockey at the football field isn't in the cards for Winnipeg.

And after a 4-1-1 start, the Jets have now lost five-straight games and six of their last seven. 

On Sunday, Montreal came out as the quicker team off the opening puck drop, and put up the first three shots on goal. But the visitors slowed down as the period wore on. The Jets had two quality chances on a mid-period power play but failed to capitalize. 

The Habs' best chance in the frame came off an Alex Newhook breakaway, but the Canadiens' forward completely missed the net on his chance. 

Thanks to their push near the end of the frame, the Jets actually pulled ahead 10-8 on the shot chart through 20 minutes of play.

The middle stanza began right where it left off for Montreal. This time it was Cole Caufield who missed the net on an early-period breakaway feed from Juraj Slafkovsky. 

But the visitors' luck finally struck as defensive phenom Lane Hutson found the first goal of the game on a net-front tap-in, bringing the red clad visiting fans to their collective feet within the stadium. The goal from Hutson knotted the shots up at elevens.

Kaiden Guhle doubled Montreal's lead on a long-range shot from the point, which once again tied the shot totals at 13s. The goal came at 11:04 of the period, given the Jets roughly half a game to find two goals.

“It was a pretty cool experience," said new guy, Dawson Mercer. "Definitely a weird situation to be thrown into but honestly a pretty special one that I’ll cherish. Obviously, the outcome is not what we wanted, but overall nice to get going with the guys right away, and then build off it from here.”

Despite a decent first period, the Jets were slow, uncreative and not particularly precise through 40 minutes of play. On top of that, Winnipeg was the only team to have been awarded a power play through the second period - and they were given two. They didn't do much on either opportunity. 

The teams exchanged chances in the third, with Isak Rosen finding his first of the season off a cross-ice feed from Gabe Vilardi. The goal gave life to the home crowd of 32,343, as Winnipeg pulled within one with 4:24 to play. 

So, after 115 minutes of goalless hockey at their stadium, the Jets finally woke up.

Then, with 1:32 to play, Josh Anderson took a tripping penalty, sending Winnipeg to its fourth power play of the day. But once again the Jets had no gas in the tank with the man advantage. 

And for the second time in 3,654 days, the Jets were outscored in a home Heritage Classic. They made their way back to their makeshift dressing room losers by way of a 2-1 final.

Skinner turned aside 19 of the 21 shots fired his way by Montreal, while Jacob Fowler made 34 stops on the 35 shots he faced on the night. Winnipeg finished 0/4 on the power play, with Montreal successfully killing each penalty it took. 

Next up for Winnipeg is a Tuesday night affair with the Florida Panthers from Canada Life Centre, before the Jets hit the road for four-straight through next week.