Music: {allcanada} Jets get revenge with Montoya's shutout of Sabres

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

{allcanada} Jets get revenge with Montoya's shutout of Sabres

Days of Our Lives 2013

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets needed some redemption against the Buffalo Sabres, and they earned it with a 3-0 win Tuesday at MTS Centre.

The Sabres defeated the Jets 4-2 loss at Buffalo on Dec. 17, one of several losses this season against a team at or near the bottom of the NHL standings.

In the rematch, Keaton Ellerby and Jacob Trouba scored for the Jets before Anthony Peluso finished off the Sabres with an empty-net goal with 1:28 left. Goaltender Al Montoya picked up his second shutout of the season with 27 saves.

Montoya started for the second game in a row after defeating the Colorado Avalanche with 33 saves Sunday. Montoya, who is challenging Ondrej Pavelec for the Jets' No. 1 job, is a strong possibility to become the first goaltender other than Pavelec to start three consecutive games since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. The Jets begin a three-game road trip Thursday against the Ottawa Senators.

The win gave the Jets their first three-game win streak since a four-game run Nov. 8-15 and capped an up-and-down 7-6-1 December.

The month included road losses against the Sabres, Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, plus a winless three-game homestand against Central Division opponents. The Jets are 5-11-3 against the Central Division but have consecutive wins against the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche.

The Sabres used the win on home ice against the Jets to put together a 3-1-1 run in five games before heading here. Their two-game road trip wraps up Thursday against Minnesota. Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves.

The Jets survived Blake Wheeler's double-minor early in the first period and several in-close offensive chances for the Sabres. The Jets built a 1-0 lead at 10:42 on Ellerby's second goal of the season, a bouncing left-point shot that skipped past Enroth.

The Sabres nearly tied the game late in the first period when Marcus Foligno jammed a loose puck past Montoya as Drew Stafford crashed into the net. The officials disallowed the goal, and video review was inconclusive in determining whether the net was dislodged before the puck crossed the goal line.

Buffalo limited the Jets to 14 shots past the game's midpoint. The Jets held a 2-0 lead by the end of the second period after Trouba scored his third goal of the season on a low shot from above the right circle blocker-side past Enroth at 13:06.

The Bold and the Beautiful: How It All Began