MONTREAL — Not much Winnipeg Jets news to report this evening as it was one of those days where the newspaper writers were traveling when the team was skating back in Sunrise, Fla. after Friday’s tough 2-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers.

Reports were that it was a lighter day as the Jets skated for roughly 30 minutes in anticipation of Sunday afternoon’s clash at the Bell Centre against the reeling Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens lost 3-0 to the Washington Capitals this afternoon and thanks to a 2-1 win by the Carolina Hurricanes over the Los Angles Kings, the fabled Habs now occupy the basement in the Eastern Conference standings with 47 points.

Those same Canadiens are 3-5-2 in their past 10 meetings and have lost three consecutive games. They will be playing on consecutive nights, so it will be interesting to see if the Jets can take advantage of what should be a tired opponent.

Ondrej Pavelec will be in goal for the Jets, while Carey Price will be back in goal for the Canadiens after watching Peter Budaj get the call against the Caps.

Meanwhile, it was a very interesting day in the Southeast Division as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Panthers 6-3 to win their sixth game in their past seven to tighten things right up.

Going into Sunday, here’s how things look in the Southeast:

1. Panthers 59 (3rd in East)

2. Capitals 58 (9th in East)

3. Jets 54 (10th in East)

4. Lightning 51 (11th in East)

5. Hurricanes 49 (14th in East)

The Toronto Maple Leafs smoked the Ottawa Senators 5-0 as Morweena product James Reimer posted his second consecutive shutout and allowed the Maple Leafs to remain 8th in the East, one point up on the Capitals.

It was already going to be an important game for the Jets, who will attempt to finish this road trip with a 3-1 record, but with all of the activity on the out-of-town scoreboard, it’s clear the Jets can’t afford to throw away any more points against a Canadiens team that has already won two of the three head-to-head meetings this season, including a 7-3 drubbling on Jan. 4 at Bell Centre that saw Lars Eller produce four goals and five points.

We’re not expecting head coach Claude Noel to make any lineup changes, though it’s possible he could try and insert Spencer Machacek back in as he looks to give the offence a boost. Not sure who he’d replace as Aaron Gagnon has done a nice job filling in on the fourth line since being recalled for a second time from the St. John’s IceCaps.

With Evander Kane and Tim Stapleton on the sidelines it might be a risky proposition for Noel to make one of his struggling forwards a healthy scratch in order to prove a point. But since the Jets have only six goals in the past five games — and four in regulation time — you just never know.