Despite Emil Bemstrom's two power-play goals and Jack Roslovic's three points, the Blue Jackets lost to the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime at Centre Bell in Montreal on Thursday.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F/OT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| MTL CANADIENS | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
1st Period
Bemstrom had the Jackets' first scoring chance at 0:46 after intercepting a pass in the defensive zone before taking the puck down the right wing and firing a shot into the glove of Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault.
Jack Roslovic opened the scoring at 2:46 when he dispatched a shot from the right doorstep after receiving a below-the-goal line pass from Johnny Gaudreau.
This play starts with a great cross-ice feed from Roslovic (96) to Gaudreau (13), who plays give-and-go with Werenski (8) before finding Roslovic at the right doorstep for the goal. #CBJ https://t.co/EsmDOgE4p4
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 26, 2023
Two shifts into his NHL debut, Blue Jackets rookie forward Dmitri Voronkov fought Habs heavyweight Arber Xhekaj at 4:39 after Voronkov hit Xhekaj into the boards.
Heres #CBJ rookie Dmitri Voronkov fighting #GoHabsGo defensemen Arber Xhekaj in Voronkovs second NHL shift. pic.twitter.com/gEB6MtcYFC
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 26, 2023
Bemstrom scored his second power-play goal in as many games at 17:21 when he fired a left-circle one-timer past Montembeault.
An absolute blast from the left circle by Bemstrom (52) gave the Jackets a 2-0 lead. #CBJ https://t.co/vHZAXDiS4z
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
The Jackets entered the first intermission up 2-0 and had a 15-9 advantage in shots on goal.
2nd Period
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki intercepted Boone Jenner's exit pass at the left point and fired a wrist shot past Elvis Merzlikins at 0:27 to cut the Columbus lead in half.
A bad d-zone giveaway by #CBJ's Jenner (38) gets intercepted by #GoHabsGo's Suzuki (14) before he rips a wrist shot past Merzlikins (90). 2-1 CBJ https://t.co/DYC5XUnCQ0
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
Alex Newhook nearly tied the game for Montreal at 11:14 when he received a saucer pass in the low slot but Merzlikins denied his shot.
Bemstrom scored his second power-play goal of the night at 13:34 after a great play by Roslovic to attract multiple Montreal defenders and find Bemstrom wide-open at the left doorstep. On the goal, Voronkov picked up the secondary assist for his first career point.
#CBJ's Voronkov keeps the puck in the zone, dishes to Roslovic (96) who dashes down the left slot, attracts both Montreal defenders in his area, and finds a wide-open Bemstrom (52) who scores on the open net. https://t.co/hLHxzxX6Fn
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
Mike Matheson answered for Montreal on the power play at 19:43 with a left-point wrist shot.
#GoHabsGo Matheson goal pic.twitter.com/mJAdZmJ2NL
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
The Jackets led 3-2 after two periods and took a 22-17 advantage in shots on goal into the third period.
3rd Period
Sean Monahan tied the game on the power play from the slot at 7:48 when he deflected Cole Caufield's feed past Merzlikins.
#GoHabsGo Monahan goal pic.twitter.com/exma2MK7Xb
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
Monahan had a great chance to give Montreal the lead with a shot from between the hashes but Merzlikins made the save at 12:43.
Merzlikins kept the game tied with a huge breakaway save on former Jacket Josh Anderson at 13:24 and another huge stop on Caufield at 14:50.
Justin Danforth had the game on his stick with a power-play breakaway at 19:36 but shot the puck above the cross-bar.
The teams were tied at three headed into overtime with Columbus leading 31-25 in shots on goal.
Overtime
The Blue Jackets had several chances to score at a net-mouth scramble on the four-on-three power play, but couldn't convert.
Caufield ended the game at 3:56 with a right-circle wrist shot past Merzlikins.
#GoHabsGo Caufield goal pic.twitter.com/dWYgFEgNwn
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) October 27, 2023
With the loss, the Jackets fell to 3-2-2.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: CBJ 34-27 MTL
- Faceoff %: CBJ 53.7-46.3 MTL
- Power play: CBJ 2/4-2/5 MTL
- Takeaways: CBJ 6-3 MTL
- Giveaways: CBJ 10-13 MTL
- Blocked shots: CBJ 22-24 MTL
- Hits: CBJ 16-20 MTL
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): CBJ 2.32-2.06 MTL
- Shot Attempts (CF): CBJ 43-47 MTL
- Shots on Goal (SF): CBJ 23-16 MTL
- Scoring Chances (SCF): CBJ 22-23 MTL
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): CBJ 12-11 MTL
Injury Update
Patrik Laine remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is currently on injured reserve. He is eligible to return for Saturday's game against the Islanders.
Next Up
The Jackets return to Columbus to take on the New York Islanders on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club then travels to Dallas to take on the Stars on Monday at 8 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
