Dubinsky, Atkinson lead Blue Jackets over Canadiens again
MONTREAL (AP) - The power play put the Columbus Blue Jackets up early. After that, the struggling Montreal Canadiens limped to another loss in front of a frustrated home crowd.
Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson each had a goal and an assist to help Columbus beat Montreal 5-2 on Tuesday night to sweep a home-and-home series.
Boone Jenner and Scott Hartnell scored first-period power-play goals for Columbus, and Brandon Saad capped the win with an empty-netter. Rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped 28 shots and improved to 4-0-1 in his last five starts.
The Blue Jackets also beat Montreal 5-2 on Monday night in Columbus and beat Montreal twice with coach John Tortorella sidelined with broken ribs.
"I thought we were ready to play," associated coach Craig Hartsburg said. "We had the right intents, the right approach to start the game."
Devante Smith-Pelly and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal. Ben Scrivens made 21 saves and fell to 0-4 with Montreal.
After the game, P.K. Subban took responsibility for the loss. The Canadiens defenseman made two giveaways that led to goals and was booed by the enraged crowd.
"I gave them two goals, basically two points tonight," Subban said. "Tonight we had an opportunity to win the game, and I gave them two goals, literally. There's no other way to describe it. I have to be better than that.
"Well, I deserved a couple of boos," he added. "They should have booed louder to be honest with you. I didn't play well. I'd probably boo, too, if I was sitting up there watching me do what I was doing tonight."
Montreal lost captain Max Pacioretty to injury midway through the second period after he took a slap shot from Subban to the left side of his face. Pacioretty, the team's leading scorer with 19 goals, did not return in the third.
After the game, coach Michel Therrien said Pacioretty was "going to be OK."
The Blue Jackets started the day last in the NHL standings but have now won back-to-back games versus Montreal for the first time since 2011. Atkinson scored a hat trick in Monday's win.
The Habs are now 2-8-0 in their last 10 home games and 1-6-1 in their last eight overall.
"The belief and the care hasn't left this locker room," forward Brendan Gallagher said. "Game after game, we haven't been getting the results that we wanted, but we can't say it's for a lack of effort.
"The guys want it so bad. It's just not happening right now."
Galchenyuk made it 3-2 3:45 into the third by one-timing in a cross-ice pass from Subban on a power play.
Atkinson sealed it for Columbus with a five-hole goal late in the third.
Columbus made Montreal pay for its lack of discipline in the first period, with the visitors converting on both their power plays.
Eight seconds into Torrey Mitchell's holding penalty, Jenner beat Scrivens for his 17th of the year at 10:51. The Canadiens netminder stopped Jenner's initial shot but lost sight of the rebound.
With Pacioretty still in the box for tripping later in the period, Hartnell capitalized on a bad giveaway by Andrei Markov behind his own net to double Columbus' lead at 19:19.
Smith-Pelly got one back for Montreal at 5:22 of the second, his fourth of the season. Dubinsky made it 3-1 at 10:40, shortly after knocking Subban off the puck behind Montreal's net.
During the first intermission, the Habs announced forward Daniel Carr would miss three months with a right knee injury, effectively ending his season. Carr, who has five goals in 19 games with Montreal, suffered the injury on Monday in Columbus.
Notes: The Habs have not won in regulation time in their last eight games, dating back to Jan. 6. ... Jacob De La Rose replaced the injured Carr in the lineup. ... Coach John Tortorella (broken ribs) was not behind the bench for Columbus. ... This was the final game before the NHL All-Star break for both teams. ... Montreal did not practice on Tuesday.