Drouin's shootout goal lifts Canadiens over Blue Jackets

Montreal's Jonathan Drouin scored the only goal in the shootout to lead the Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Drouin slid in a backhander during the top of the second round for the game-deciding goal.

Montreal goalie Carey Price stuffed Cam Atkinson, Gustav Nyquist and Oliver Bjorkstrand in the extra session after making 33 saves in regulation and the shootout. The Canadiens also killed off Victor Mete's holding penalty during a four-on-three power play in overtime.

Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar tallied for Montreal, which moved to 6-1-1 in their last eight. Columbus' Eric Robinson scored his first NHL goal and Zach Werenski also netted a marker. Backup goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 of 32 shots for the Blue Jackets, who fell to 1-5-2 in their last eight.

Blue Jackets' forward Nick Foligno served the first game of his three-game suspension for an elbowing incident against Colorado's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on Saturday night in Denver. Defenseman Ryan Murray returned to the lineup after missing six games with a broken hand, but he left the ice with assistance after taking a hard shot to the inside of the right knee with 6:12 left in the second period.

Playing in his 15th NHL game, Robinson put Columbus up on the board with his first goal by tapping in a shot from the low slot past Price at 16:46 of the first period. Emil Bemstrom set up the goal with a pass from the goal line into the slot, and Werenski posted the secondary assist.

Montreal worked two power plays in the second period after penalties by Werenski and Riley Nash, and the club managed to outshoot Columbus 15-11. However, Merzlikins stood strong against the Canadiens' attack to keep the visiting side up 1-0. Gallagher ultimately tied it up at 3:27 of the third period when he skated in and ripped a long wrister between defensemen Seth Jones and Werenski. The tally was Gallagher's eighth, and Victor Mete and Shea Weber recorded helpers.

Werenski gave Columbus a 2-1 lead with 1:53 remaining, but Tatar tied it at 19:19 with Price pulled for the extra skater. Price's win came on the three-year anniversary of becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to win his first 10 games, which he did on Nov. 12, 2016.

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