Canadiens 2, Blue Jackets 1
MONTREAL -- Left winger Max Pacioretty scored a late power-play goal to give the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Left winger Paul Byron also scored for the Canadiens (19-4-3). Left winger Nick Foligno replied for Columbus.
Goaltender Mike Condon stopped 22 shots for Montreal while Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for the Blue Jackets (10-16-0).
Byron opened the scoring with his third of the season at 2:51 of the first period. With the puck tied up in a battle along the left boards, defenseman Nathan Beaulieu poked it up to Byron, who dished off to right winger Christian Thomas with a cross-ice feed. Thomas drove up the right side before tossing the puck back over to Byron in the slot for the perfect tip past Bobrovsky.
Foligno snapped a 20-game goal drought to tie it up at 17:23. Condon got a piece of center Ryan Johansen's shot from the right circle with his glove before it hit the end boards. Foligno was first to the rebound, picking up the loose puck and tucking it in blocker side on a sprawled Condon.
Just over 30 seconds later, the Canadiens found themselves down to five defenseman after Alexei Emelin was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a hit on left winger Matt Calvert.
After a scoreless second period, both sides had prime chances to put their teams ahead. First, left winger Brandon Saad went wide on a two-on-one rush with right winger Cam Atkinson. A few minutes later, Pacioretty beat Bobrovsky but not the crossbar with a shot from just inside the left circle.
The Canadiens' potent power play connected for the winner at 17:51. Quick passing at the blue line kept the puck in the Blue Jackets' zone before Subban fed
Weise at the goal line to Bobrovsky's right. Weise found Pacioretty uncovered in the slot and the Canadiens captain made no mistake, scoring the game-winning goal against Columbus for the fourth consecutive meeting between the two clubs.
NOTES: Montreal made one change to its line-up, inserting D Alexei Emelin for D Greg Pateryn, who was a heathy scratch alongside LW Daniel Carr, called up from AHL St. John's on Sunday. ... Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky returned to the line-up after serving a one-game suspension for a crosscheck to the back of the head/neck area of Pittsburgh Penguins C Sidney Crosby. ... Columbus scratched C Michael Chaput and D Dalton Prout while D Fedor Tyutin, RW Rene Bourque and RW Jared Boll remained sidelined with injuries. ... Canadiens coach Michel Therrien stood behind the bench for his 700th game as an NHL head coach. ... Montreal D Andrei Markov appeared in his 872nd career game, moving him into sole possession of 13th place on Canadiens' all-time list. ... The game was one of eight road games -- of 14 overall -- the Blue Jackets will play in December.