The Montreal Canadiens’ rookie team dropped the opening game of the Prospect Challenge weekend on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 to the Winnipeg Jets in Gatineau.

Viggo Björck — Winnipeg’s first-round pick, 8th overall in the 2026 draft — opened the scoring 13:18 into the first period, assisted by Brayden Yager and Nause, to put the Jets up 1-0.

The second period stayed tight, with goaltenders Samuel Hrenák for the Jets and Arseni Radkov for the Habs both sharp between the pipes. It took until the final seconds of the period for the next goal, when Yager scored on the power play at 19:58 — set up by Wahlin and Freij — after a costly penalty by McCallum put Montreal down a man. Winnipeg carried a 2-0 lead into the third despite Montreal actually outshooting them 14-12 through 40 minutes.

The Jets wasted little time putting the game away, with Kevin He making it 3-0 just 55 seconds into the third on a goal from Freij and Burnside — at that point, they were clearly the better team on the ice. Montreal answered on the power play at 8:46, when Aleksandr Legkov buried his own rebound for the Habs’ only goal, assisted by Tyler Thorpe and Luke Mittelstadt. The Canadiens got two more power plays and a late 6-on-5 look but couldn’t find a second goal. Winnipeg finished with 20 shots on goal, Montreal with 23.

Winnipeg also dressed a few of its younger NHL regulars for the tournament, including Colby Barlow, Yager, and David Gustafsson.

The Canadiens’ rookies are back on the ice Sunday at 6 p.m. against the Ottawa Senators’ rookie team. You can catch it on NHL.com/Canadiens.