Cayden Primeau earned his second win of the season for the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday at Nationwide Arena.
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After playing a season-low 11:29 the night before, Juraj Slafkovsky ended a 14-game goalless drought and added an assist.
Cole Caufield busted out of a five-game scoring slump, potting his 13th goal in the home arena of No. 13 Johnny Gaudreau.
With the win, the Habs are 4-2-1 in their last seven games.
Mathieu Olivier is proving he’s more than a brawler. He scored his seventh goal of the season to give Columbus a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Slafkovsky entered the game with only 22 shots in 18 games. He needs to shoot more. He took one shot last night, but it was enough to give him his second goal of the campaign. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period.
By the midway point of the second period, the Habs matched the number of shots they got Tuesday against Utah: 13. But it was Columbus who regained the lead when Yegor Chinakhov blew by Jayden Struble and beat Primeau to make it 2-1 for the Blueshirts.
Just over two minutes later, the Canadiens responded on the power play. Slafkovsky hit Caufield with a slick pass off the boards, and Caufield beat Merzlikins glove side on a breakaway for the 2-2 equalizer.
Fans were waiting for an Arber Xhekaj vs. Olivier heavyweight rematch. Instead, they got Brendan Gallagher dropping the gloves against the much larger Zach Werenski. Gallagher held his own despite the size disparity.
In the third period, Emil Heineman flashed some major power forward potential by driving the net at top speed and scoring his fifth of the season. Montreal had their first lead of the night 3-2.
It didn’t last long. Werenski banked a pass off a skate and into the net four minutes later to earn his Gordie Howe hat trick.
The goal sent the Habs to overtime for a second consecutive night. This time, they had a happy ending at 3-on-3 when captain Nick Suzuki scored his eighth of the season off his own rebound to seal a 4-3 win on the road. Hutson added to his rookie-leading total with a 12th assist.
The Canadiens started their three-game road trip on the right note with the win. It was their seventh win in a row against the Ohio club.
Natural Stat Trick had the Habs leading in scoring chances at 25-16, but the Jackets had one more high-danger chance (7-6).
According to Hockey Stat Cards, it was a big night for Slafkovsky and an even bigger night for Lane Hutson, who once again got top PP unit duty with Mike Matheson out. On the other hand, Justin Barron was -2 and took a potentially disastrous penalty in the third period.
The liveblog commenters were watching probationary duo Primeau and Barron like hawks, and the goalie will live to see another day after stopping 21 of 24 shots. If he weren’t waiver-eligible, Barron would probably be in Laval. At this point, he has yet to prove he’s anything more than a tweener.
3. “Two things have been solid for Montreal all season so far: 1) special teams play (1 PPG on 2PPs, 0 goals yielded on 3 PKs) and 2) depth scoring (Heineman with a goal, Evans and Armia with assists).” — Michael Way
2. “A win on a back to back is always good. Slafkovsky was good tonight. Just keep taking positive steps in the right direction.” — Keith MacCausland
1. “Hats off to Cayden Primeau. He gave them the opportunity to win.” — Max Gray