Canadiens rally for rare win in Columbus

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Canadiens took an unexpected hit from their defense on Wednesday as they rallied in the third period to secure a rare 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

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Rookie Arbor Jekai returned to the lineup after picking up a healthy injury Tuesday against Buffalo, but scored his third goal of the season at 2:38 of the third period to keep the Canadiens at even 1-1. pulled.

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And David Sabad bounced back when he scored his first goal of the season at 3:35. He dived hard into the net and was rewarded with Kirby Duck’s pass going off the skate.

Sean Monahan has completed scoring into an empty net.

Mathieu Olivier, who was born in Mississippi, where his father Simon played for the ECHL, scored until he took advantage of a Mike Matheson turnover in the defensive zone for an unassisted goal at 1:08 of the third period. There was no

The Canadiens, who improved to 10-9-1 over the course of the season, have not had much success here. They lost his 6-4 to the Blue Jackets last week, and Columbus finished his 8-2-0 record in his last 10 games at home against Montreal.

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Sam Montembaugh made 29 saves and improved his record to 4-2-1.

For the third game in a row, the Canadiens got off to a slow start, which wasn’t too surprising since they played 24 hours earlier in Montreal. The difference this time was that the Blue Jackets also struggled, with Montreal outscoring the home team 7-6 in a scoreless first period.

Montambo had to end his streak early in the second period. After the Blue Jackets held Montreal to one shot on goal during a power play, Olivier came out of the penalty box for a clean breakaway, but Montambour made a glove save. Gustav his Nyquist broke off 14 seconds after him, but Montambour closed his 5th hole.

Colecaulfield created an opportunity late in the second period as the teams were playing 4-4. Joonas Korpisalo came out to play the puck and Caufield shoved it off his stick. The Montreal sniper hit a sharp angle, but it went wide of the net.

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The Montreal power play is still in progress. Here, he missed three chances and had just one shot on goal for the Canadiens, who went 6-0 against the Sabers on Tuesday.

Martin St. Louis made changes to his defense, with Jekai and Jonathan Kovacevic returning to the lineup on Tuesday with healthy injuries. They replaced Chris Weidman and Jordan Harris.

Canadiens travel to Chicago for Thanksgiving weekend afternoon game on Friday (2pm, TSN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

phickey@postmedia.com

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