Habs prevail in back-and-forth affair with Jackets

Joel Armia's tip-in goal at 17:03 of the third period helped give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-2 victory over the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.

The Canadiens twice leveled the game after trailing the Jackets during the second period, and Armia finally put the Habs ahead with his second goal of the season. Mike Matheson's one-timer was redirected by Armia off the goalpost and into the Columbus net.

Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield each scored their seventh goals of the season for Montreal. Matheson had two assists, adding another late helper on Gustav Lindstrom's empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation.

The Habs are 3-1-0 in their past four games, all on the road. The Canadiens now head back to Montreal for a stretch of seven home dates over their next eight games.

Sam Montembeault stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn his fifth win in nine starts this season.

Patrik Laine and Yegor Chinakhov scored for the Blue Jackets. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stopped 27 of 30 shots.

After a fast-paced but scoreless first period, both clubs tallied two goals in the second. Laine opened the scoring at the 3:40 mark with a tremendous individual effort, starting with the puck in his own end and outpacing two Canadiens players before sliding the puck past Montembeault.

Newhook collected Montreal's first equalizer 7:36 into the period, firing in a loose puck from the circle. Newhook's goal came just seconds after the forward hit the goalpost on a tough near miss of a scoring chance.

Chinakhov also found some atonement with his goal at 9:47 of the second period. After missing a great open-net chance on a two-on-one play late in the first period, Chinakhov made no mistake in converting midway through the second frame for his second goal in as many games.

The Canadiens again evened the score at the 14:08 mark. Merzlikins stopped Christian Dvorak's initial shot, but Caufield deposited the rebound to make it a 2-2 game.