Blue Jackets use four-goal first period to defeat Canadiens

Patrik Laine scored twice for his first multigoal game of the season, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday.

Laine, Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson and Yegor Chinakhov each scored in a 9:23 span in the first period, and Joonas Korpisalo made 32 saves for Columbus (20-21-1), which has won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 22-26 (three in a row).
"[Canadiens] get the early one, but then from there, I thought we had a really good first period," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "Very strong, a lot of great forechecking and obviously we were finishing, which is great. So, it was good to see that we had a good start."

Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and two assists, and Nick Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli each had a goal and an assist for Montreal (8-29-7), which has lost six straight games (0-4-2) and 12 of its past 13 (1-8-4).
"Losing's not easy," Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. "Obviously, expectations are different right now than they were coming into the season or any other season. It doesn't change the fact that you want to win hockey games. It's frustrating.
"You want to be able to leave the rink feeling good about yourself and when you're losing you're searching for solutions, and it's not there. But we're going to keep working, keep trying to find that environment. The one thing you can never lose is your culture. The minute losing feels normal or you're numb to losing, you're probably playing the wrong sport."
Sam Montembeault allowed three goals on seven shots before being replaced in the first period by Cayden Primeau, who made 26 saves on 28 shots. It is the fourth straight game Montreal has pulled its goalie and the second straight for Montembeault, who allowed six goals on 16 shots before being replaced to start the third period in a 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
"They've had some tough luck with their goalies, so we just wanted to shoot as many pucks as we can," Laine said.
Suzuki gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the first period.
Laine tied it 1-1 at 3:51 when he scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
"I saw a little bit of an opening on the short side, so I just tried to hit it and happy obviously it went in," he said. "It was a big goal for us and our line after going down by one."

Roslovic put Columbus up 2-1 at 8:39, and Robinson made it 3-1 with a shorthanded goal at 10:11. He intercepted Jeff Petry's pass attempt just inside the Blue Jackets blue line and scored on a breakaway.
Chinahkov's unassisted goal made it 4-1 at 13:14. He stripped the puck off Kale Clague and scored on a wrist shot between Primeau's pads from the slot.
"That's two plays where we had complete possession of the puck and we had it stolen outright from us," Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. "So those are free chances, certainly things that are within our control."
Toffoli cut the lead to 4-2 at 19:19 of the second for his fourth goal in the past seven games. He scored five goals in the first 26 games of the season.
Lehkonen's shorthanded goal got Montreal to within 4-3 at 6:56 of the third period, but Cole Sillinger scored with a wrist shot over Primeau's glove on a 2-on-1 at 9:58 to put the Blue Jackets up 5-3.
"I just saw an opening and that's what we were kind of focusing on tonight, not passing up any opportunities," Sillinger said.
Laine took a pass from Sillinger and scored into an empty net at 17:12 for the 6-3 final.
"I appreciate that," Laine said. "I remember that, and I'll try to return the favor one day."
NOTES:Gallagher had two shots on goal and two hits in 13:40 of ice time after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. … Laine's last multigoal game was April 12, 2021, against the Chicago Blackhawks. … Korpisalo won two consecutive starts for the first time since Oct. 31 (4-3 against the New Jersey Devils) and Nov. 3 (5-4 against the Colorado Avalanche). … Columbus scored four first-period goals for the first time since a 5-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Feb. 26, 2018. … Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist had two assists for his first multiassist game since Nov. 15 against the Detroit Red Wings. … Montreal has been outscored 52-26 in the first period this season. … Canadiens forward Paul Byron was minus-3 with three hits in 16:48 of ice time in his season debut after offseason hip surgery.