It had to end sometime, right?
The Montreal Canadiens are walking a little taller with Carey Price back in their lineup, and they played that way tonight at the Bell Centre.
They started quick, too.
Two goals in the first nine minutes put the Blue Jackets back on their heels, but the visitors gathered themselves in the intermission and came back with a solid second period. Columbus struggled with turnovers and simple plays early on, and a couple of careless penalties didn’t help the cause, either.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CANADIENS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring at 3:11 of the first period, roaring down the right wing and firing a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky – a nice shot, sure, but one you’d normally expect to see Bobrovsky gobble up and hold for a whistle.
With David Savard in the box, Jonathan Drouin fired through a heavy screen only seven seconds into a Montreal power play, boosting the lead to 2-0. It was the first goal in nine games for Drouin, who has struggled to find the net.
But the intermission was a well-timed elixir for the Blue Jackets.
They started the second period on the front foot, funneling the puck deep into Montreal territory and activating their forecheck to create turnovers. It was born from speed, and the Blue Jackets skated at a different pace in the second period, evidenced by the play that set up Pierre-Luc Dubois’ fourth goal of the season.
Josh Anderson won a race to a loose puck, broke down the left side and cut to the net in front of Price. The first shot was blocked but lay in the crease, and Dubois followed up to chip it past Price and cut the deficit in half. Montreal challenged for goaltender interference but lost both the challenge and its timeout.
And so, the third period.
The Blue Jackets had chances and chances, but could not get a second goal past Price, who was outstanding in net. Price finished with 37 saves and stood tall in the third as Columbus threw everything at the net.
Injury Update
Alexander Wennberg (body) and Matt Calvert (upper body) both traveled to Montreal with the Blue Jackets but did not play on Monday. It's possible that Wennberg could return to the lineup tomorrow at home against Carolina.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets finish off a back-to-back set (their first of two this week) tomorrow night at Nationwide Arena when they take on the Hurricanes.
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