- Jets host the Canadiens in the Heritage Classic Sunday at Princess Auto Stadium
- Winnipeg plays its first game since trading Connor Hellebuyck to the Devils
- Read below for the Canadiens’ outdoor history, Cole Caufield’s goal total and what the players are saying
The Winnipeg Jets host the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic on Sunday, and they do it two days after trading Connor Hellebuyck.
Puck drop is 7 p.m. ET at Princess Auto Stadium, with the game on Sportsnet, TVAS, TNT, truTV and HBO Max. The NHL is also inviting fans to welcome both teams at Gate 1 when they arrive, with the Jets expected around 2:45 p.m. and the Canadiens around 3:15 p.m.:
Hellebuyck went to New Jersey on Friday for Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, prospect Alexander Command and two picks. We broke down what each side got earlier this week. Winnipeg is 4-3-3 without him, with Stuart Skinner carrying most of the work at 3-1-3.
Bjugstad hasn’t played this season after surgery for a torn pectoral muscle, so the new faces may not all be ready for the outdoor stage.
Defenseman Mario Ferraro wrote about the team’s recent stretch in his Heritage Classic blog for NHL.com.
“We got off to a pretty good start on the year, but we have been going through a little bit of a tough stretch of games in the last three or four, all one-goal games,” Ferraro said. He also called Sunday “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” since it’s his first outdoor NHL game.
Montreal arrives with plenty of outdoor experience. It’s the fifth outdoor game in franchise history, the most of any Canada-based team, and the Canadiens are 2-2-0 in the previous four. Mike Matheson and head coach Martin St. Louis will both play their first NHL outdoor games.
St. Louis was asked about what the setting means to him.
“I think I love the game so much because of how it was so accessible at a young age with the outdoor rinks,” he said. “I spent way more time on the outdoor rinks than I ever did any organized stuff, and I feel that’s where the love of the game came from for me.”
Defenseman Alexandre Carrier gets a second shot at the experience. He was set to play in the 2022 Stadium Series with Nashville before an injury two days earlier knocked him out.
The Canadiens come in off a 4-1 win in Chicago on Friday, where Jake Evans scored twice. Here’s his first goal:
Evans talked about the crowd in his own blog entry. “I think for us, it’s going to be double the number of fans that we’re used to playing in front of,” he said.
Montreal is still without captain Nick Suzuki, who was ruled out 2-4 weeks earlier this week. That leaves more of the offense on Cole Caufield. The NHL put out a graphic ahead of the game showing Caufield with 94 goals since the start of 2024-25, second only to Leon Draisaitl (97) and ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (92):
The Jets also get a quick turnaround. Florida visits Winnipeg on Tuesday, then Winnipeg heads to Florida and Carolina. You can see how the stadium was built in our Heritage Classic rendering story.
