Blue Jackets breakdown: Canadiens swipe 3-1 victory on Savard winner

After two periods without a goal, Mathieu Olivier gave Blue Jackets fans something to cheer about barely a minute into the third with a wrist shot that resulted in a 1-0 lead.

What happened afterward was more of a downer for the home crowd Wednesday at Nationwide Arena, where the Montreal Canadiens responded with two goals of their own 57 seconds apart in a 3-1 victory that was decided on a goal by former Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard.

Rookie Arber Xhekaj scored the equalizer for Montreal 1:30 after Olivier’s goal and Savard’s winner deflected off his foot into the net at 3:35 to break a 1-1 tie. Sean Monahan’s empty-net goal with 1:57 left added insurance for the Canadiens (10-9-1), who got a strong effort from goalie Sam Montembeault (30 saves).

More:Takeaways from Blue Jackets' loss to Montreal Canadiens

Joonas Korpisalo also played well, making 26 saves for the Blue Jackets (7-11-1).

"First one off a stick, second one off a skate," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen lamented. "It's too bad because we were playing a heck of a game. We weren't giving up much at all and we had some good looks ourselves. Their goalie made some big saves for them."

Here’s a breakdown:

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Montreal Canadiens: key moments

— Almost five minutes into the second, the added toughness the Blue Jackets acquired with rugged defenseman Erik Gudbranson showed up. Montreal’s Michael Pezzetta plastered Jake Christiansen into the end boards behind the Columbus net and Gudbranson took exception to the hit against his rookie defense partner.

After confronting the Canadiens’ forward following the whistle, the two dropped the gloves in front of the net and squared off in a fight that didn’t last long. Gudbranson landed a couple big blows before it was broken up, including an upper cut.

The fight pumped life into the game and arena.

— Goals were finally scored in the third, starting with Olivier breaking the ice at 1:08 with his second goal of the season to put the Blue Jackets up 1-0. The Canadiens responded with the goals by Xhekaj and Savard less than three minutes later, scoring them on back-to-back shifts.

Savard's went off his left skate after Kirby Dach shot it from the wing.

"That's a 'Savvy' goal right there," Korpisalo said. "He's just crashing the net and, you know, that was a nice kick. It's legal now, so, yeah, that was a nice play from them."

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Montreal Canadiens notes

— Yegor Chinakhov was scratched with an upper-body injury that also forced him to practice on his own Tuesday while the rest of the team skated on the main sheet. Liam Foudy drew back into the lineup to replace him, skating on the third line with Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom.

— Jack Roslovic also returned to the Blue Jackets’ lineup after missing the previous two games with an illness. Roslovic centered the second line, skating with rookies Kent Johnson at left wing and Trey Fix-Wolansky on the right. It’s been a tough start for Roslovic, who has one goal, five assists and six points in 16 games.

— This was the first time the Blue Jackets wore their new rendition of "Reverse Retro" uniforms, which are essentially the reverse color scheme of the team's first "third" jerseys in 2003. Rather than a blue jersey with black on the shoulders and arms, these are black with blue on the shoulders and arms. The look also includes with black pants with blue around the bottom edge and black helmets. The team's game presentation crew went all-out with the "retro" theme by putting early 2000s era graphics on the scoreboard and showing old video board skits featuring a collection of former players.

— The Blue Jackets hadn’t lost to the Canadiens since Feb. 19, 2019 in Montreal, going 8-0-1 in a span that included a 6-4 victory for Columbus here last week.

— This was the fifth time Montembeault has faced the Blue Jackets and it was his best effort. He went 0-3-0 with a 4.82 goals-against average and .861 save percentage in his first four outings against Columbus.

Quotable: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Montreal Canadiens

“We had our looks, that's for sure. We had our chances. I think their goalie played really well. Sometimes, your goalie's going to win games for you and I believe tonight that's what happened. They played a tight game, but so did we. It was well-played by both sides and they came out on top.”

— Olivier on the game staying 0-0 through the first two periods despite the Blue Jackets generating good looks at the Canadiens' net. 

“You’ve just got to hold the fort. We’re going to have to defend more than maybe we’d like to at times, but hopefully you have the puck more and you don’t have to do as much of that.”

— Larsen on the reality of having a depleted lineup during a spate of ongoing long-term injuries to key players. 

“I cheated a bit. I ordered out.”

— Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger on hosting Thanksgiving dinner for his parents and older brother, Owen, a center for the Cleveland Monsters.

Up next for the Columbus Blue Jackets

A tough back-to-back awaits Friday and Saturday, as the New York Islanders visit Columbus for the first time this season on the front half and the Jackets finish it off Saturday in Music City against the Nashville Predators.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets downed by David Savard winning goal