The Montreal Canadiens blew a two-goal lead against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night, seemingly prepared to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But despite their inability to hold a lead, an opportune penalty against Nikolaj Ehlers towards the end of regulation gave them the opportunity they needed to avoid allowing a completion of the comeback.
And it was none other than Justin Barron who ended the game, with his parents in attendance.
Barron has been somewhat enigmatic this season. While his offensive output has been solid, concerning defensive lapses have prevented any sort of real excitement about his point production. While he had one or two lapses against the Jets, his overall effort was among the best on the entire roster. He was less enigmatic in that game than he was essential to the win, even if you don’t consider his overtime heroics.
The Canadiens held an expected-goals share of 68.01% when Barron was on the ice at five-on-five, a far cry better than their cumulative mark of 38.94%. In a game where they mostly went into a shell once they had a lead, he seemed unwilling to accept that reality, and was constantly looking to push the puck up ice and generate offensive opportunities.
The jury is still out on the trade that brought Barron to Montreal. He has been up and down this season, but the one thing that has been relatively constant has been that point production. He’s currently on pace to cross the 30-point mark for the first time in his young career, and maintaining that pace could go a long way to quelling any remaining concerns about the trade.
He may have played his best game of the year against the Jets, and the organization will be hoping he has more of that effort moving forward.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. I’m back in Canada, and we’re back in full swing, so we’ll return with another episode following Thursday’s meeting with the Minnesota Wild.
