Canadiens rally for a rare win in Columbus

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Canadiens obtained some sudden offence from their defence corps as they rallied within the third interval to publish a uncommon 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday at Nationwide Enviornment.

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Rookie Arber Xhekaj, who returned to the lineup after he was a wholesome scratch in Tuesday’s 7-2 dwelling loss to Buffalo, pulled the Canadiens even at 1-1 when he scored his third objective of the season 2:38 of the third interval.

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And David Savard obtained the bounce when he was credited together with his first objective of the season at 3:35. He went onerous to the online and was rewarded when Kirby Dach’s cross caromed off his skate.

Sean Monahan accomplished the scoring into an empty internet.

There was no scoring till Mathieu Olivier, who was born in Mississippi the place his father Simon was taking part in within the ECHL, took benefit of a turnover by Mike Matheson within the defensive zone to attain an unassisted objective at 1:08 of the third interval.

The Canadiens, who improved to 10-9-1 on the season, haven’t had a lot success right here. They misplaced to the Blue Jackets 6-4 final week and Columbus had an 8-2-0 file of their final 10 dwelling video games towards Montreal.

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Sam Montembeault made 29 saves as he ran his file to 4-2-1.

For the third consecutive sport, the Canadiens obtained off to a sluggish begin, which was not that shocking as a result of they performed 24 hours earlier in Montreal. The distinction this time round was that the Blue Jackets additionally struggled to get going and Montreal outshot the house staff 7-6 within the scoreless first interval.

Montembeault needed to cease back-to-back breakaways early within the second interval. After the Blue Jackets held Montreal to 1 shot on objective throughout an influence play, Olivier had a clear breakaway popping out of the penalty field, however Montembeault made the glove save. Gustav Nyquist had a breakaway 14 seconds later, however Montembeault closed the 5 gap.

Cole Caufield created an opportunity late within the second interval whereas the groups have been taking part in 4-on-4. Joonas Korpisalo got here out to play a puck and Caufield poked it off his stick. The Montreal sniper had a shot from a pointy angle however fired vast of the online.

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The Montreal energy play stays a piece in progress. The Canadiens, who went 0-for-6 Tuesday towards the Sabres, got here up empty on three alternatives right here with just one shot on objective.

Martin St, Louis made a change on defence with Xhekaj and Johnathan Kovacevic returning to the lineup after they have been wholesome scratches on Tuesday. They changed Chris Wideman and Jordan Harris.

The Canadiens transfer on to Chicago for a Thanksgiving weekend afternoon sport Friday (2 p.m, TSN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

phickey@postmedia.com

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