Blue Jackets 1 – Canadian 5 | The Canadian wins against the Blue Jackets

The Montreal Canadiens started a four-game home stay on the right foot with a 5-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

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In a duel bringing together the two worst teams in the Eastern Association, the Canadian (6-10-2) joined the Blue Jackets (6-9-2) in the 15th^e rank thanks to two goals scored in one minute 48 seconds towards the middle of the third period, those of Lucas Condotta (1^is) and Jake Evans (3^e).

Josh Anderson (4^e) added a power play goal by deflecting a Mike Matheson shot with just over four minutes left in regulation.

Matheson (1^is), in the first period, and Nick Suzuki (7^e), with the eventual game-winning goal late in the second period, also beat Daniil Tarasov, who faced 30 shots.

Cole Caufield and Joel Armia also contributed to this gain by collecting two assists each.

Defender Dante Fabbro, in the second period, scored the Blue Jackets’ only goal against Samuel Montembeault, who stopped 25 pucks.

The Canadian played this match without the services of veteran defender David Savard, who had an upper body injury.

His absence, confirmed around 30 minutes before the start of the match, meant that Jayden Struble, who was expected to be left out, was finally able to put on the uniform, alongside Arber Xhekaj.

The Canadian will play their next game Monday evening when they host the Edmonton Oilers.

A first in a month

Before Saturday’s game, the Canadiens’ defenders had only scored three goals since the start of the season, the most recent of which – October 19 against the New York Islanders – was obtained by Logan Mailloux, who has since been returned to the Laval Rocket.

Matheson ended this drought and, in the process, his own lethargy by collecting his first goal since April 13, in Ottawa, during a minor penalty to Damon Severson.

After receiving a pass from Caufield, Matheson, from the top of the slot, let go of a ball on which Tarasov had no chance at 4:59, especially since Juraj Slafkovsky obstructed his vision by jumping the air, right in front of him.

It was the only moment of celebration for the Habs during these first 20 minutes, despite collecting 16 shots. The Montreal attack showed less bite in the second period, to the point of spending around 10 minutes without testing the Blue Jackets goalie.

The visitors took advantage of this inertia of the Canadian players to tie the score at 7:40, when Fabbro, taking advantage of heavy traffic near the Habs net, beat Montembeault with a low shot, from the glove side.

Martin St-Louis’ men found a little energy before the end of the engagement, enough to take the lead thanks to a wrist shot from Suzuki on the side of Tarasov’s glove, which undoubtedly looked better in the past.

The period was also marked by a violent boxing fight between Arber Zhekaj and Mathieu Olivier, and, even if the latter conceded three inches and 14 pounds, he defended himself rather well against the Canadian’s strong man.

In the third period, real good scoring chances were rare on either side. Brendan Gallagher had a golden one with just over 11 minutes remaining when he took advantage of an opening on the right flank. His shot, however, ended up in the protective net behind Tarasov.

Less than three minutes later, Condotta didn’t miss his own to give the Habs an important two-goal cushion with 8:48 to go. Evans scored less than two minutes later to seal the match.