A day after an afternoon overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the Columbus Blue Jackets traveled to Canada's Quebec province for a Groundhog Day bout with the Montreal Canadiens.
Despite a late Canadiens surge, the Blue Jackets were able to pull off the Sunday afternoon victory in their second game post-all-star break.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| CANADIENS | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
The Blue Jackets were first on the board 13 minutes into the afternoon contest thanks to a Vladislav Gavrikov goal. The score resulted from an impressive one-on-four play from Nick Foligno who fought off a slew of Canadiens and retained the puck through a long change. The goal is Gavrikov's 5th of the season.
Some quick passing from Dubois and Bjorkstrand allowed Gavrikov some space to operate.#CBJpic.twitter.com/9by7G9kvHB
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 2, 2020
In the second period, Quebec native, Pierre-Luc Dubois, extended the Blue Jacket lead to 2-0. Dubois, using both his speed and strength, burst up the left side of the ice, cut in toward the goal, and sent a backhand past the shoulder of Carey Price.
PLD is able to do it all by himself to make it 2-0. Grown man play. pic.twitter.com/oSJpIUeYnC#CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 2, 2020
Dubois added a second tally to his afternoon to extend the score to 3-1. The unassisted goal was an impressive play in which Dubois gathered a rebound off the pads of Price and scored on a wraparound backhand.
PLD makes the most of a Price mistake and beats him on the wraparound.pic.twitter.com/qZU0CLuYQw#CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) February 2, 2020
Despite a late push from Montreal to make it 4-3 after a Gustav Nyquist empty-net goal, the Blue Jackets were able to squeak out the victory.
Injury Update
Alexander Wennberg left the game in the third period with an upper-body injury.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets return home to face the Florida Panthers this Tuesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
