MTL@CBJ: Game recap

COLUMBUS – The Canadiens rallied from two goal deficits, but it wasn’t enough to push them past the Blue Jackets in a 5-4 loss at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Quick hits

• Cole Caufield (2A), Jake Evans (1G, 1A) and David Savard (1G, 1A) registered multi-point outings.
• Lane Hutson scored his second marker of the season, bringing his season total to 28 points (2G, 26A) in 36 games.
• With a goal tonight, Emil Heineman extended his point streak to three games (2G, 1A).

Laine’s return to Columbus

Patrik Laine faced his former team for the first time since being traded to Montreal in the offseason.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old Finn, he was unable to complete the game. The Club announced during the second period that he had sustained an upper-body injury.

Roster

There's no need to change a winning formula following three wins in a row, so the Canadiens went with the same lines and defense pairings that faced the Detroit Red Wings twice last week. Samuel Montembeault, who made his 10th start in a row, turned aside 27 shots.

For more stats, check out the Gamecenter summary here.

Montreal goals

P2 02:03 [1]-2 Savard (Caufield, Suzuki)

P2 07:03 [2]-3 Hutson (Slafkovsky, Caufield)

P2 14:26 [3]-3 Evans (Heineman, Savard)

P3 00:20 [4]-3 Armia (Evans, Carrier)

Columbus goals 

P1 12:03 0-[1] Voronkov (Monahan) 

P1 18:45 0-[2] Johnson (Werenski, Olivier) 

P2 03:34 1-[3] Harris (Marchenko, Monahan)

P3 03:24 4-[4] Voronkov (Marchenko, Werenski) - PPG

P3 17:48 4-[5] Marchenko (Monahan, Werenski)

What’s next

The Canadiens will benefit from a short holiday break before embarking on their annual post-Christmas road trip with games against the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche. The team will return to the Bell Centre on January 6 against the Vancouver Canucks at 7:30 p.m. ET. For tickets, click here.