Bolduc Breaks Goalless Drought With Game Winner VS. Blue Jackets

For the first time in a while, the Canadiens’ first line wasn’t able to produce any offence on the night. The truth is that the top line won’t be able to score every night, which is why the team needed its depth to step up as it did on Thursday night. It may have only been two goals scored, but it was enough to get the job done.

While it’s great that Bolduc was able to break his goalless drought, the main reason that the Habs won on Thursday was Dobes, who had another amazing performance where he made 25 saves on 26 shots. However, the defence in front of him was also better than Tuesday’s game, which was also a difference maker in the game. Mike Matheson led the way with blocking 4 shots, while Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, and Noah Dobson all had 3 as well. It was a team effort on Thursday with the Habs’ top four defenders all getting in the way of multiple shots.

The biggest save that Dobes made was on a breakaway chance where he robbed Mason Marchment by getting the pad down on the deke. Marchment also had another opportunity to beat Dobes off a rebound and a wide-open net, but he fanned on the puck; he went for it before the Habs’ defence pushed it out of harm’s way. The Canadiens and Dobes were lucky he missed, but now and then to be successful, you need to have bounces like that go your way.

The beginning of the game was fairly similar to Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes for the Habs, as they were off to a slow start in the first period. After the first 8 minutes of the game, the Habs were outshot 8-1 by the Blue Jackets. The only difference is that Dobes didn’t allow any early goals before the Habs got their legs going. Nonetheless, the Canadiens need to work on starting the game with more energy, as they can’t continue to rely on coming from behind or on their goaltender bailing them out early once again. Luckily, they would still get on the board first.

Midway through the first period, the Habs would take a 1-0 lead on their 3rd shot of the game thanks to Jayden Struble getting his first marker of the season as well as his first since November 2024. The play where the goal happened came from a pinching Hutson, who battled in the corner before sending it back to the point to Bolduc, who was covering for him. Bolduc would then send it to Struble on the other side of the point before he skated into the left faceoff circle to release a snapshot over Greaves’ blocker to open the scoring. With his assist on the goal, Hutson became just the fourth defenseman in Habs history to record 70+ points after only Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, and Chris Chelios. He has 11 games to become only the 2nd to reach 80+ points after Robinson has the record with 85 from the 1976-77 season.

The Habs’ lead wouldn’t last long, as just 2:23 after Struble opened the scoring, the Blue Jackets would get a goal from defenseman Damon Severson to tie things up at 1. Hutson would attempt to pinch to make a play, but the Blue Jackets got the puck out with nobody back to cover for him. Struble was left as the only one back for a 2-on-1 where Boone Jenner made a pass through the slot to Severson, who would beat Dobes and get the Blue Jackets on the board. It was a badly timed pinch that ended in the back of the Habs’ net, but they would improve defensively as the game went on to not allow as many prime chances.

Of course there was another 2-on-1 before the end of the opening period and the 2nd-period breakaway off giveaways, but Dobes stood tall and didn’t let anything else sneak by him. However, the same thing could be said about Greaves in the 2nd period, as both goaltenders made huge saves while the two teams traded chances back and forth.

It wasn’t until 4:36 into the final frame of regulation that anybody would strike again, as Bolduc would finally get a goal to get the monkey off his back from his 31-game goalless streak. Jake Evans would enter the offensive zone and fire a cross-ice pass to Bolduc, who would beat Greaves over the blocker in a similar spot to where Struble had put the puck earlier on the Blue Jackets’ netminder, proving that the Canadiens’ shooters were starting to see his weakness was just above his blocker. Not only was this a big goal for Bolduc, but it was also huge for the team as they needed an unlikely hero to step up with the top line unable to find the back of the net. Bolduc finished the night with a goal and an assist and was tied for the team lead in hits with 3 on the night. He played arguably his best game as a Hab, which earned him the first star.

Following Bolduc’s goal, the Blue Jackets would push but were unable to solve Dobes, which included Marchment’s fanned opportunity, which turned out to be the final chance of the game for the Blue Jackets as the Habs held on to grab a very important win. With the victory, Dobes tied Carey Price on the list of wins by a Habs goaltender in their rookie season with 24.

The Habs are now 2 points ahead of the Boston Bruins with a game in hand for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division with 90 points and 11 games to go in the season. It will be a tough race down the stretch, but with 3 straight wins on their recent home stand, they are now in the driver’s seat.

The Habs will be in action next on Saturday at 7:00 pm ET to start a 5-game road trip against the Nashville Predators. Thankfully, the Habs have been a very solid road team so far this year.

How many points do you expect the Habs to get on their upcoming road trip?