Laine scores in dying seconds to lift Blue Jackets to win over Canadiens

Even goalie Elvis Merzlikins was impressed by the Patrik Laine blast that gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a last-minute 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

With just 6.5 seconds left on the game clock and the Blue Jackets on the power play, Laine fired a one-timer past Habs' goalie Samuel Montembeault for the win.

It was a shot no netminder would have a chance on, Merzlikins said.

Laine also registered an assist Saturday, extending his scoring streak to six games (seven goals, five assists). It's the best hockey Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen has seen the Finnish forward play.

"You could notice it in practice and coming out of the [all-star] break," Larsen said. "They start to score and things just seem to start clicking and what has come so natural to him for so long you start to see it at the highest level in the game. And that's neat to see with a guy of his calibre with how he can fire the puck and how dangerous he can be."

The win put Columbus (23-22-1) back over .500 with five straight road wins, but Laine feels there's still much the Blue Jackets need to accomplish.

"First of all we're not in a good spot, we're not in the playoffs right now but we're working hard and it's obviously nice to get wins," he said. "You need to get wins this time of the year if you want to make it and we gotta capitalize when other teams are losing and try to get back into the race that way."

Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for the Blue Jackets and Merzlikins made 30 saves for the win.

Cole Caufield replied for Montreal, putting away his third goal of the season 2:55 into the third period.

'Keep moving in the right direction'

Montembeault had a busy day at the office, blocking 37-of-38 shots for the Canadiens (8-32-7).

It was the Blue Jackets' second victory at the Bell Centre in 14 days, extending their win streak to five games and six in their last seven.

The Habs slumped to a nine-game winless streak and fell to 0-2-0 under newly minted head coach Martin St. Louis.

Columbus' last-minute goal came after Montreal's Jeff Petry was called for tripping with 1:27 to go in the third period.

"I think in any walks of life, you can do anything right and still get it wrong. I think Petry's doing a lot of good things out there right now and I think that somehow something bad happens for him," said the 46-year-old Hall of Famer.

"I'm going to talk to him and keep trying to support him. I'm gonna try to watch his games a little more closely and if I can see stuff or ideas to help him keep moving in the right direction and hopefully get through this hump of bad stuff happening for him."

Columbus were wide awake for the matinee game, scoring only 1:16 in.

Ben Chiarot's clearance attempt deflected off Laine and onto Bjorkstrand's stick. The Dane skated towards the slot, bounced the puck off of Alexander Romanov and beat Montembeault with the fourth shot of the game.

After a scoreless second period, Caufield took advantage of a defensive mistake to score in a second consecutive game.

The Blue Jackets didn't panic when the score was levelled, Bjorkstrand said.

"It proves that we stick with it and we don't get frustrated towards the end of the game," he said. "It was tied but we stuck to the game plan and we kept pushing so that's why we were able to get those goals."

Habs get goalie Andrew Hammond from Minnesota

The Montreal Canadiens have added to their goaltending depth, acquiring netminder Andrew Hammond from the Minnesota Wild.

The trade, announced Saturday, saw the Habs send left-winger Brandon Baddock to Minnesota.

Hammond has a 6-2-3 record with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League this season, posting a 2.44 goals-against average with a .908 save percentage.

The 34-year-old native of Surrey, B.C., has played 56 career NHL games with the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche, registering a 27-15-6 record with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and four shutouts.

Montreal has surrendered a league-high 184 goals this season and continues to await the return of star goalie Carey Price, who's working his way back from off-season knee surgery.