MONTREAL (AP) — Cayden Primeau made 41 saves for his second career shutout as the Montreal Canadiens blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Brendan Gallagher, Jurai Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy scored for the Canadiens, with all the goals coming in the first 5:48 — and the last one leading to Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins getting pulled.
Merzlikins stopped one of four shots. Daniil Tarasov took over in net for Columbus and made 19 saves.
Both of Primeau’s shutouts have come this season. He only needed to make 13 saves when the Canadiens beat Anaheim 5-0 on Feb. 13.
This was only Montreal’s second regulation win since, a span of 12 games. Both teams are well out of playoff contention; Columbus has lost three of four and hasn’t won more than two consecutive games all season.
Gallagher scored 21 seconds into the game. He found himself alone in front of the net and redirected Jake Evans’ pass into the top corner.
Slafkovsky made it 2-0 on the power play when he fired a one-timer past Merzlikins from the right faceoff dot after a feed from Mike Matheson.
Roy deflected a shot into the back of the net at 5:48 to end Merzlikins’s night.
Columbus totaled 22 shots in the period, but could not find a way past Primeau.
The 24-year-old Primeau — now the full-time backup to Sam Montembeault after Montreal traded Jake Allen to the New Jersey Devils on Friday — made an impressive sprawling glove save to steal a goal from Alexandre Texier.
The Blue Jackets dominated possession in the second period but couldn’t find the net, a pattern that continued in the third.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Host Ottawa on Thursday night.
Canadiens: Host Boston on Thursday night.
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