Blue Jackets defeat Canadiens; Pacioretty injured

MONTREAL -- Brandon Dubinsky will enjoy his vacation drinks during the NHL All-Star break a little more after the Columbus Blue Jackets swept a home-and-home series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Dubinsky had a goal and an assist after Boone Jenner and Scott Hartnell scored power-play goals in the first period, and Columbus won the season series against Montreal with a 5-2 victory at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

"It feels good to win here in Montreal," said Dubinsky, who played his first six NHL seasons (2006-12) with the New York Rangers. "It's a tough building, and I haven't won too many games too often here in my career, so this feels really good. I'm just happy for all the guys, and the pina coladas are going to taste a little better for the All-Star break here."
Cam Atkinson and Brandon Saad scored for the Blue Jackets (19-27-5), and rookie goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves after he had 32 in a 5-2 win against Montreal at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Columbus, which is last in the Metropolitan Division with 43 points, tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers for the fewest in the League, is 2-0-1 with associate coach Craig Hartsburg filling in for injured coach John Tortorella, who broke two ribs when he collided with forward Rene Bourque during an outdoor practice Friday.
"The boys are a bit more loose right now, and we're starting to have fun," Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert said. "We know where we are in the standings; all we can do is move up and get better each day, you know, become more consistent. It's a process here and a lot of guys here are going to be here at the end of the season, here next season, and you've got to find a way to keep on focusing on trying to win hockey games."
Montreal captain Max Pacioretty left the game after he was hit in the head by a P.K. Subban slap shot midway through the second period. He did not return.
"I was told he's going to be OK," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.
Devante Smith-Pelly and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal (24-22-5), which twice cut a two-goal Blue Jackets lead to one.
"The effort was there," said Subban, who assisted on each goal but blamed himself for the loss. "I think, personally, I wasn't good enough tonight and cost my team two goals, so I've got to be better than that. I felt that we gave ourselves a chance to win the game and I pretty much gave it to them."
Ben Scrivens made 21 saves in his first home start in four games with the Canadiens, who acquired him from the Edmonton Oilers in a trade for Zack Kassian on Dec. 28.
The Canadiens have lost 19 of 24 games (5-18-1) since starting 19-4-3.

"We've got to find ways to collectively get points," Montreal right wing Brendan Gallagher said. "It's not easy. Every team plays hard. Every team's excited to come into this building. There's no easy nights in the National Hockey League, and I thought tonight, we got off to a great start; every line's going, and then special teams, we lost the special teams battle early and didn't execute, and it cost us."
Jenner gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with his 17th goal at 10:51 of the first period, eight seconds after Montreal center Torrey Mitchell was penalized for holding. The Blue Jackets forward gathered in the rebound of his backhand shot off Scrivens' left pad and tucked the puck inside the right post from the right edge of the crease.
Hartnell scored his 17th goal on Columbus' second power play of the period when he redirected Nick Foligno's centering pass from the right corner into the goal mouth past Scrivens with 41 seconds remaining.
Dubinsky made it 3-1 in the second, and Atkinson, who had his third NHL hat trick Monday, made it 4-2 at 17:03 of the third. Saad scored into an empty net with 22 seconds remaining.
Montreal forward Jacob De La Rose, who drew into the lineup after Daniel Carr sustained a right-knee injury Monday, hit the right post with a backhand shot at 2:26 of the first period.
The Canadiens announced during the game that Carr will be out three months because of the injury. He has five goals and three assists in 19 games.
Columbus went 2-1-0 against Montreal this season.