Jake Evans reflects on Canadiens’ 2-1 Heritage Classic win over Jets in first NHL outdoor game

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans marked the end of his 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic blog by looking back on his first NHL outdoor game, a Sunday matchup against the Winnipeg Jets at Princess Auto Stadium.

In his final entry, Evans described the atmosphere as “loud” and “really unique,” adding that while he took in the scene from the bench, once he was on the ice the game “felt like a regular game.”

Evans said the ice conditions were closer to what he expected than he anticipated, noting that although it is “not an indoor NHL rink,” it “didn’t feel like it affected the game too much at all.” He also pointed to what he found most challenging outdoors—depth perception—explaining that if pucks were “in the glass or in the air,” it became “a little bit trickier.”

To prepare for those conditions, Evans said skating at practice “helped a lot,” and he tied the overall experience to the kind of moment players later look back on in a career, calling it a significant memory because it ended with a win.

On the game itself, the Canadiens won 2-1 over the Jets, and Evans credited Jacob Fowler for stepping up in key moments, writing that Fowler “looked really confident out there” and “made a lot of shots look easy,” particularly in the third period when he “stepped up in those big moments.”

Evans also addressed Montreal’s lineup situation, saying the Canadiens had “now won two games without Nick (Suzuki) and he’s our top player and our leader.” He said the team did not lack confidence in its ability to play without Suzuki, and that stringing wins without him could “only help” when he returns.

Evans’ reflections capture how the outdoor setting and game-time conditions shaped his first experience in an NHL outdoor event, while the Canadiens’ one-goal victory and Fowler’s performance provided the on-ice finish Evans highlighted as “icing on the cake.”