MONTREAL (AP) — Zachary Bolduc scored the winner with his first goal since Dec. 23, and the Montreal Canadiens edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Thursday night.
Jayden Struble — with his first of the season — also scored, and Jakub Dobes made 25 saves as Montreal won its third consecutive game.
Damon Severson scored for Columbus, and Jet Greaves stopped 18 shots.
The Blue Jackets fell to 19-4-4 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as head coach Jan. 12. They climbed from 28th overall to second in the Metropolitan Division ahead of Thursday’s games.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, sit third in the Atlantic Division with 11 games remaining.
Bolduc ripped a shot into the top-left corner 4:36 into the third period to snap a 31-game goalless skid and give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.
Struble ended a drought of his own when he opened the scoring at 9:54 in the first period. He snuck a wrist shot past Greaves short side for his first goal since Nov. 26, 2024.
Two minutes later, Severson got Columbus on the board by beating Dobes blocker-side on a 2-on-1 after Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson was caught up ice.
With an assist on Struble’s goal, Hutson became the fourth defenseman in Canadiens history to register 70 points in a season — and the first since Chris Chelios in 1988-89. Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe also reached the mark.
Blue Jackets: Host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Canadiens: Visit the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Love & Hope & Magic: The Making of Jinx, the Musical,” is a documentary chronicling … Read morePremiere of Love & Hope & Magic: The Making of Jinx, The Musical
San Francisco Symphony players get together in an intimate setting of the Gradus Ad Parnassu… Read moreSoirée Française: Our Favorite Violin Sonatas
Planning your dream wedding? Discover everything you need at the Wedding Fair in the Park – … Read moreWedding Fair in the Park
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
CA Is Burning said:
anna kuhre said:
Providing Feedback said:
guestd1f05c09006f503bea99796c said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.