Galchenyuk scores in OT, Price makes 26 saves as Canadiens beat Blue Jackets

“They said that they saw the goalie cover the puck,” said Pacioretty, who has 12 points in his last nine games. “That’s hard to see when it doesn’t happen. You could see my face when I got up, because we know when it’s in. Genuinely, I believe I scored a goal.

“But Chucky’s the hero and I’m happy for Chucky.”

Less than three minutes after the disallowed goal, with Seth Jones in the box for holding, Galchenyuk scored the winner on the power play with a slap shot from the point that soared into the roof of the net at 3:53 of the extra period.

Pacioretty’s assist on the game winner was his 400th NHL point. He’s the 36th player in Canadiens history to reach that milestone.

“That was a really tight game,” said Galchenyuk, who also scored the overtime winner in Montreal’s 4-3 come-from-behind victory in New Jersey on Monday. “Both goalies played amazing.”

Montreal’s (35-21-8) three consecutive wins have all come in overtime. The Canadiens have not won a game in regulation since Jan. 31.

Newly-acquired defenceman Jordie Benn made his Canadiens debut. The 29-year-old was traded to Montreal from the Dallas Stars on Monday for defenceman Greg Pateryn and a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft.

Benn, who played on a defensive pairing with Nathan Beaulieu, finished the game with 15:09 of ice time, including 3:22 shorthanded.

“Back and forth, pretty entertaining for the fans,” said Benn, who played all 302 games of his NHL career with the Stars before Tuesday. “To be listening to the fans cheer, it was pretty surreal. To have that jersey on and have them cheer like that, it’s definitely hockey heaven.”

The game was fast-paced and exciting despite the lack of goals.

A couple of early power plays gave Montreal all the momentum, but the home team failed to capitalize.

Luck was on Montreal’s side as the Jackets beat Price on several occasions but couldn’t beat his posts. Columbus (39-16-6) hit four pucks off the iron, including Zach Werenski’s shot off the crossbar 19 seconds into the contest.

“It was a fun game to be involved in,” said Jackets head coach John Tortorella, whose players saw their two-game winning streak snapped. “Both teams played well and both teams played hard. I liked our attack, especially in overtime. We tried to win the game. We had some really good chances.

“We’ll take that point and get out of here. It was a very evenly played game.”

Bobrovsky stopped 29-of-30 shots as the Blue Jackets failed to sweep the season series versus Montreal. Columbus came into Tuesday’s game having outscored the Canadiens 12-1 in its two victories earlier this year.

In the first intermission, the Canadiens announced they had traded forward David Desharnais to the Edmonton Oilers for defenceman Brandon Davidson.

Desharnais played 435 regular-season games with Montreal since joining the Canadiens organization in 2008.

The 25-year-old Davidson, who was drafted by the Oilers in the sixth round in 2010, has five goals and eight assists in 91 career games with Edmonton.

Desharnais was a healthy scratch against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday and left the building after the trade was announced.

The NHL trade deadline is Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.

Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Galchenyuk scores in OT, Price makes 26 saves as Canadiens beat Blue Jackets

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