The Canadian struck early and did what was necessary to win Tuesday night at the Bell Center.
The Montreal team scored three goals on its first four shots on goal and cruised to a 3-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Habs had fun at the expense of goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins, who only managed one save in just under six minutes of work.
The home side spent the majority of the rest of the game defending, and not always very convincingly. Fortunately for the fans, the Canadian was not facing one of the powers of the circuit, otherwise the three-goal lead might not have been enough.
Brendan Gallagher, Juraj Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy scored for the Canadian (25-30-10), who won for the second time in six outings (2-2-2). Cayden Primeau made 41 saves to record his second shutout of the season.
Primeau blanked the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-0 win in his previous start at the Bell Center on February 13.
The Blue Jackets (22-33-10) suffered a third loss in four games. Merzlikins gave up his net to Daniil Tarasov after just 5:48 of play. Tarasov stopped 19 shots.
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic was back in the Canadian lineup after being left out in the previous three games. Jordan Harris gave way to him.
The Canadian will play his next game on Thursday, when the Boston Bruins are the visitors at the Bell Centre.
Three quick salvos
Gallagher started the hostilities after just 21 seconds of play. Alone in front of the net, he deflected a delivery from Jake Evans behind Merzlikins.
On the streak, Gallagher collected a 415e point with the Canadian, which allowed him to join Yvon Lambert at 34e rank in the team’s history in this regard.
Boone Jenner wasted an opportunity to quickly respond for the Blue Jackets. He presented himself alone in front of Primeau, but missed the target.
The Canadian widened the gap on the power play at 3:15. Slafkovsky hit the mark with a powerful one-timer that Merzlikins couldn’t control.
Primeau once again had to stand out shortly after his team scored. This time, he caused his misfortune by sending a return directly to Alexandre Texier. The American goalkeeper, however, stole a goal from the French striker with his mitt.
Roy was then credited with the Canadian’s third goal, at 5:48. Arber Xhekaj fired a cannonball from the blue line. The disc deflected off Roy before hitting the post, then bouncing off Merzlikins’ back. He finished his race behind the goal line.
The Blue Jackets finished the first period with 22 shots on goal. Dmitri Voronkov also threatened, hitting the post on a breakaway during a Blue Jackets power play.
Roy came close to adding a second goal before the end of the first period. However, he missed the target after receiving a pass from Joel Armia during a two-on-one attack.
The Blue Jackets did not give up in the second period and Primeau had to be alert to preserve the Canadian’s lead.
Primeau received help from Mike Matheson, when Jenner appeared alone in front of him on the first sequence of the second period.
At the other end of the ice, Tarasov also stood out. He speared the disc when Alex Newhook thought he found himself in front of a gaping cage after a good exchange with Roy.
Tarasov was also lucky when Kaiden Guhle hit the crossbar after coming out of the penalty box.
Adam Boqvist also hit the post during a Blue Jackets power play early in the third period. The rest of the engagement was just a formality.
The match ended with spectators chanting Primeau’s name.