Final
Habs beat Blue Jackets for 40th win
Feb 27, 2015 - 3:28 AM Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - P.K. Subban had a goal with two assists, Jacob De La Rose scored the first two goals of his NHL career and the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.Carey Price earned a franchise-record 10th consecutive road win with a 25-save performance.
Max Pacioretty potted his 30th goal of the season for the Canadiens, who have won three games in a row.
Curtis McElhinney gave up four goals on 26 shots as the Blue Jackets lost their fourth straight game.
Montreal opened the scoring 1:49 into the game when Subban one-timed a pass from Andrei Markov after a faceoff win by Manny Malhotra in the Columbus zone.
The Blue Jackets tied it 54 seconds later on a shot by Brandon Dubinsky that beat Price high on the glove side. Following the goal, Dubinsky collided with a sliding Tom Gilbert, who had gone down to block the shot, and tumbled to the ice near the end boards, landing hard on his left shoulder, neck and head. He skated to the bench on his own power, but sat out the rest of the game.
David Desharnais fed Markov for a one-timer and the veteran defenseman blasted the puck past McElhinney to give Montreal a 2-1 lead at 4:25 of the first period.
Pacioretty made it 3-1 with 5:24 to play in the first, scoring after Columbus' James Wisniewski failed to connect on a pass in the Blue Jackets zone.
"I think I could have been a lot better in the first period for this team," McElhinney said.
Price made 12 saves during a scoreless second period, helping preserve a lead that Montreal extended to three early in the third.
The 19-year-old De La Rose, playing in his 12th NHL game, deflected Brandon Prust's shot past McElhinney at 5:33.
"It's always fun to see young kids getting rewarded," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said.
Columbus' Marko Dano followed with a goal 2:20 later, but De La Rose fired the puck into an empty net with 17 seconds remaining.
Game Notes
Pacioretty became the third Montreal player with consecutive 30-goal seasons in the last 20 years, joining Mark Recchi (1996-98) and Michael Ryder (2005-07) ... Subban and Markov were each plus-5 ... Montreal improved to 17-2-1 against Metropolitan teams this season ... Prior to the game, the Blue Jackets traded injured forward Nathan Horton to the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward David Clarkson. Horton's career is in doubt because of a back injury ... Forward Devante Smith-Pelly made his Montreal debut after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday for forward Jiri Sekac.
- MONTREAL: 5
COLUMBUS: 2
Final
Feb 26 9:30 PM - MONTREAL: 3
COLUMBUS: 1
End of 2nd
Feb 26 8:36 PM - MONTREAL: 3
COLUMBUS: 1
End of 1st
Feb 26 7:41 PM - MONTREAL: 0
COLUMBUS: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Feb 26 7:08 PM
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