Throughout the opening period, the Blue Jackets’ defense made as much of a difference in front of their goalie Curtis Sanford as they did in front of the Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price.
Defensemen Mark Methot and Fedor Tyutin both saw opportunities to give Columbus the early lead, though it was the play of fellow blue-liner Aaron Johnson that broke the tie.
Two minutes into the first period, Johnson’s shot rebounded into the open ice where Vinny Prospal was able to snap the puck past a sliding Price to make it 1-0. Prospal’s goal was his seventh of the season.
Keeping with the theme of recent games, the Blue Jackets surrendered the lead with little more than one second remaining in the period. James Wisniewski, attempting to clear the puck, put the biscuit on the stick of Mike Cammalleri who dished it off to wingman Andrei Kostitsyn who knotted the game at 1-1.
Fans in the Bell Centre spent much of the second period on their feet, captivated by the physical play that had started to dictate the game. Despite thunderous checks and borderline dirty open-ice hits, both teams kept the gloves on.
Looking to break the tie, Columbus created a few quality chances early in the period but was unable to cash in. Kristian Huselius, playing in his second game of the season, could not convert on a pair of scoring opportunities. He would later leave the game with a groin injury.
Finally, the Blue Jackets found the back of the net. At the mid-way point of the game, R.J. Umberger took a long tape-to-tape pass from Nikita Nikitin, swept in right-to-left on the net, and buried the go-ahead goal on the short side of Price.
The third period was much of the same, rough and tumble play complimented with chances in favor of Columbus.
Down 2-1 with 1:21 left in regulation, Montreal coach signaled to Price with intentions of bringing on the extra attacker. However, before the sixth man could hurdle the boards, Brian Gionta scored. Another late-period goal.
Habs fans that had begun to boo their team, moved to the edge of their seats in excitement. The Bell Centre rose to a deafening volume that proved to be the soundtrack for the overtime period and eventually the shootout.
In the shootout, Rick Nash and Curtis Sanford duplicated their performances from earlier in the road trip. Nash toyed with the puck before using his long reach to beat Price then Sanford iced the game robbing the Canadiens’ third straight attempt.
Columbus takes its momentum back to Nationwide Arena where they are staged to take the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
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