COLUMBUS, Ohio _ They had a great start, another dangerous lull, a wacky bounce that went their way and, ultimately, the Blue Jackets notched another confidence-building victory Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
Despite being outshot 32-26 and finishing with 28 less attempts, the Jackets set a season-high in goals with a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens that paired nicely with a 3-2 overtime win Friday against the St. Louis Blues.
These victories are their first strung together consecutively since Oct. 21 and 24, when they won in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.
"We were just determined," said goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who made a number of key stops among his 24 saves. "We blocked a lot of shots and they missed a lot of shots because we were stealing the puck, so they couldn't shoot it at the net. Great job with the sticks today and we were taking away a lot of the shot lanes too, clearing a lot of the rebounds away from the net."
The Blue Jackets (8-8-4) also capitalized offensively, getting two goals and three points from Pierre-Luc Dubois, a goal and assist from rookie Emil Bemstrom and additional goals by Boone Jenner and Eric Robinson.
The Canadiens (11-6-4) got goals from Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Armia, who put them ahead 2-1 early in the second period with a tipped shot at the left post that eluded Korpisalo. Carey Price allowed five goals for just the second time this season and first time in defeat.
"I thought in the first period we made a lot of plays, a lot of offensive plays," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "I thought our second period was ridiculous and then I thought we played a good third period. Korpi gives us a chance. He made some terrific saves at key times for us. You know, we're certainly not used to playing with a three-goal lead with three or four minutes left."
They didn't have the lead at all until Bemstrom became the benefactor of a strange bounce. After missing a backhand shot from in front of the net, the Swedish rookie forward watched the puck hit the glass behind the Canadiens net, come back and hit Price before bouncing into the net.
It was his third goal of the season and third in five games. Bemstrom also assisted on Dubois' first, which tied it 2-2 late in the second period.
After Bemstrom's goal, which put the Blue Jackets up 3-2at 6:54 of the third, the Jackets added goals by Jenner to cap a power play and then Dubois' second of the game, scored off a nice pass by Gustav Nyquist. Robinson scored the game's first goal just 1:24 into the game for his second goal in a week against Montreal.
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