CBJ 5, MTL 2: Coyle's Two-Goal Night Propels Blue Jackets To Statement Win Over Canadiens As Playoff Hopes Renewed

By Ed Francis on April 11, 2026 at 10:02 pm
Charlie Coyle's two-goal night propelled the Columbus Blue Jackets to a massive, 5-2 victory over the Canadiens on Saturday night and renewed hopes for a spot in the postseason.
© Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
0 Comments
  1 2 3 F
CBJ 2 2 1 5
MTL 1 0 1 2

CBJ GOALS: 
Boone Jenner (1st, 1:13)
Charlie Coyle (1st, 5:42)
Kirill Marchenko (2nd, 1:24)
Sean Monahan (2nd, 10:36)
Charlie Coyle (2) (3rd, 9:59)

Their most complete game in a long while.

Charlie Coyle scored twice, including a power play goal in the third period, to give the Columbus Blue Jackets an emphatic 5-2 win Saturday night over the Montreal Canadiens.

The win kept the Blue Jackets very much alive in the playoff race.

It was Boone Jenner who started the scoring for Columbus, giving the Blue Jackets an early lead just 1:13 into the game.

Zach Werenski had the primary assist on Jenner's goal. It was his 59th of the season, tying his own franchise record set last season for most assists in a season. Artemi Panarin also shares in that record, with 59 in the 2017-18 season.

The Blue Jackets doubled their lead on the first goal of the night from Coyle, going up 2-0 at the 5:42 mark of the period. The Canadiens would respond six minutes later with a goal from Josh Anderson and make it a one-goal game heading into the first intermission, but Kirill Marchenko would again put the Blue Jackets up two in the opening 90 seconds of the second period.

Sean Monahan's goal at the 10:36 mark of the middle period put Columbus up 4-1, which would be the score until four minutes into the third period when the Canadiens would again get to within two on Cole Caufield's 51st goal of the campaign.

Columbus seemingly added a huge insurance goal on what would have been Jenner's second of the night, but the officials waved the goal off for goaltender interference. The Blue Jackets were perplexed by the call and took their timeout to consider challenging the play, but opted against it, wary of handing the Canadiens a power play if the call was upheld.

Moments later, the Blue Jackets took a penalty regardless. But the Canadiens would commit an infraction of their own while on that power play, and in the abbreviated Columbus power play that would follow, Coyle would get his second of the night to extend the lead to 5-2. 

"I think everyone knows what's at stake, where we're at in the season, and what we need right now," Coyle said when asked about the Blue Jackets quick start. 

Coyle was named the First Star of the game.

Canadiens starter Jakub Dobeš, who entered the game on a seven-start winning streak, allowed five goals on 33 shots in what was his worst outing since March 3.

Jet Greaves stopped 20 of Montreal's 22 shots for the Blue Jackets, notching his 26th win of the season.

Head coach Rick Bowness was happy with all aspects of the game.

"We had a great first period tonight," Bowness said. "And you give our veterans a lot of credit. They came through tonight when we needed them the most. They did a fantastic job for us. Jet made the saves when he had to. That's probably one of the best games we played all year."

Here's how the Blue Jackets kept pace in the playoff race in the final days of the regular season:

1st Period:

(1:13 — CBJ Goal): The lead comes early for the Blue Jackets and it's off the stick of Jenner. After some smart play around the boards, the puck ends up on the stick of Werenski. He fires from just outside of the left circle and Dobeš makes the initial save but serves up a rebound that goes right to Jenner, who tucks it around Dobeš and into the net for the 1-0 Columbus lead.

(5:42 — CBJ Goal): Coyle collects the puck in Columbus' zone and skates up ice immediately, going through the neutral zone and dishing to Jake Christiansen as they enter the zone together. Christiansen makes a touch-pass to Werenski, who immediately gets it back to Christiansen near the left dot. He sees Coyle charging into the low slot and finds him, with Coyle able to bury it to give the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead.

(11:48 — MTL Goal): Montreal cuts the Columbus lead in half with a goal by former Jacket Josh Anderson. A really smart play from Lane Hutson, who gets his 64th assist of the season on this when he makes a great pass to Jake Evans, who then feeds Anderson on the doorstep of Greaves to move it to a 2-1 game.

(1:24 — CBJ Goal): A big-time goal from Marchenko, who picks up his first goal in five games and just his second over the last to 14 to extend the Blue Jackets lead to 3-1. With the teams at 4-on-4, Marchenko comes up the right side, quickly changes angles, and gets a laser past Dobeš for his 26th goal of the season.

(10:36 — CBJ Goal): Sometimes, goals are a result of grit and hard-work. Other times, it's being in the right place at the right time and a sloppy play from the other side. Dobeš gathers the puck behind the net and flips it to Jayden Struble, who is careless with moving the puck around the boards. It goes right to Kent Johnson, who flips it into the right circle where Monahan is waiting and fires past Dobeš to make it 4-1 Blue Jackets.

(3:58 — MTL Goal): Late in the power play, Caufield gets his 51st goal of the season to cut Columbus' lead to 4-2. Nick Suzuki skates into the zone with the puck and gets it to Caufield, who gets over to the edge of the right circle and fires from a nearly impossible angle to slip it past Greaves and create short-term panic for the Blue Jackets' faithful.

(9:59 — CBJ Goal): Coyle's second of the night comes on the power play and turns tense moments into moments of relief. He takes the feed from Marchenko and snaps it in from in tight, making it a 5-2 Blue Jackets lead.

CBJ GAME STATS MTL
33 SHOTS 22
69 SHOT ATTEMPTS 48
33 SCORING CHANCES 22
16 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 10
56% FACEOFF PERCENTAGE 44%
1/4 POWER PLAY 1/4
3/4 PENALTY KILL 3/4
15 HITS 22
18 GIVEAWAYS 14
5 TAKEAWAYS 1
11 BLOCKED SHOTS 18

Stat Chat:

  • This was the first time since March 21 that the Blue Jackets scored five goals in a game.
     
  • Coyle's second goal of the night was also his 20th of the season, giving the savvy veteran a 20-goal season for the third time in his 14-year career.
     
  • Of the Canadiens ten high-danger chances in the game, only three came in the final 40 minutes. The Blue Jackets defense did an excellent job of limiting good scoring chances for the Canadiens' high-power offense.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets are back home for the final two games of the regular season. First up: the Boston Bruins, who clinched a wild card spot Sunday. Puck-drop is set for 6:00 p.m. The burning question: will the Bruins opt to sit some guys with a playoff spot already locked up?

0 Comments

Game Preview: Blue Jackets, Fighting To Stay Alive In Playoff Race, Face Canadiens In Montreal In Regular Season Road Finale

Fighting for their playoff lives, the Columbus Blue Jackets play their final road game of the regular season Saturday night when they travel to Montreal to battle the Canadiens.