Jets spoil Dominique Ducharme’s debut as Montreal’s coach

Kyle Connor scored twice and the Winnipeg Jets spoiled Dominique Ducharme's debut as Montreal's coach, beating the Canadiens 6-3 on Thursday night to open a two-game series. Nate Thompson scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists, and Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist. Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves.

The Jets have won three in a row to improve to 12-6-1. Joel Armia scored twice for the Canadiens, and Tomas Tatar added a goal. Montreal fired coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday, promoting Ducharme to interim head coach. The Canadiens have lost four straight to fall to 9-6-4. The teams will meet again Saturday night.