After a scoreless first period where the Jets penalty kill was on display, the power play put the visitors in front to start the second. Connor teed off on a one-timer from the right circle, set up by Josh Morrissey, that beat Sam Montembeault on the short side.
He's the seventh fastest active player to reach 200 goals, a mark he reached in 429 career games.
"It's pretty cool, those milestones. You never dream in your wildest dreams that you'll be in the NHL, let alone score 200," Connor said. "I'm sure I'll look back on it after the year, like I always do, then move on to the next one. I'm looking forward to the next game."
Montreal tied things up with 12:41 to go in the middle frame, as Evgenii Dadonov was set up for a one-timer of his own. His blast came from near the bottom of the right circle, and it just barely beat Connor Hellebuyck sliding across.
Hellebuyck was sensational throughout the night, even though a total of four got past him. He made 24 saves, many of a highlight reel variety.
Just 1:42 after the Dadonov tally, Mike Hoffman put Montreal up 2-1 with his eighth of the season. It came off the rush, with Hoffman's shot from the right wing beating Hellebuyck high on the stick side, just under the bar.
"We've had nights like this here in the past where it seems like we're on our heels," said Morrissey. "You need to be aggressive and rely on the things we do well. It's not a great game for us, overall."
Dadonov added his second of the night to make it 3-1, when Dylan DeMelo's clearing attempt hit a stanchion and kicked back out into the middle of the ice. David Savard found Christian Dvorak, and his shot was stopped, but Dadonov was right there to pot the rebound.
The three unanswered second period goals from the Canadiens came in a span of 5:45.
"We weren't close together, supporting each other. A couple guys on different pages, it's never going to work out well," said Connor. "One guy thinking he's going to go up the wall, stretch, strong side. Next thing you know they hinge it or we go out the other side, then we have a couple guys stranded on one side. We're just spread out and that opens up the middle of the ice. You're going to take that open ice every chance you get."
Montreal added to that lead in the third, as Josh Anderson banged home a loose puck after a Kirby Dach wrap around attempt was stuffed by Hellebuyck. Anderson's 12th of the campaign came with 15:41 left in regulation.
"Listen, they played really well. Give them a lot of credit," Bowness said of the Canadiens. "We made it very easy for them to play their game."
The Jets generated a couple of looks late, but weren't able to chip away at the Montreal lead.
Next up, Winnipeg goes from facing the lowest-ranked team in the Atlantic Division to one of the second best in the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
"We sat back and we weren't on our toes and we didn't have our skating legs. That's something that's easy to fix," said Morrissey. "We'll have to be ready to go against a top team here in a couple of days. It's a big game, always one you shouldn't have a hard time getting up for, for sure."
And Bowness doesn't anticipate that being a problem either.
"That's a proud group in there. We wouldn't be where we are today without that being a proud group," he said. "They knew they were off tonight. Now we're going to be challenged Thursday in Toronto and we better answer the bell."
