Cayden Primeau made 22 of his 41 saves in the first period as the host Montreal Canadiens rode a fast start to a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Making his first start since Jake Allen was traded to the New Jersey Devils on Friday, Primeau turned aside all 11 shots he faced in the third period to preserve his second career shutout. He made 13 saves in the Canadiens’ 5-0 romp over the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 13.
Brendan Gallagher scored 21 seconds into the game and Juraj Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy also tallied to stake Montreal to a 3-0 lead within the first six minutes.
The Canadiens put it on cruise control from there, registering just their third win in 12 games (3-7-2) to complete a three-game season sweep of the Blue Jackets.
Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins yielded three goals on four shots before being replaced by Daniil Tarasov, who turned aside all 19 shots he faced.
Montreal bolted out of the blocks as Jake Evans’ backhanded centering feed from along the left-wing boards was shoveled home by Gallagher. The goal was Gallagher’s 11th of the season and second in his past four games.
A fast start was a familiar sight for the Canadiens, who saw Mike Matheson score 38 seconds into a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Gallagher’s goal on Tuesday marked the first time Montreal scored an opening-minute goal in consecutive games since Feb. 1-3, 2004.
Slafkovsky’s one-timer from the right circle off a feed from Matheson doubled the advantage on a power play at 3:15. Slafkovsky’s 14th goal of the season was his second in his past six games.
Primeau made a sprawling glove save on Alexandre Texier 15 seconds later, and Roy deflected defenseman Arber Xhekaj’s shot to give Montreal a 3-0 lead at 5:48. That spelled the end of the evening for Merzlikins.
Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov sustained an upper-body injury during the first period and did not return.
–Field Level Media