Columbus defeats Montreal 2-1 for 12th win in a row

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets made it 12 straight wins Friday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 to maintain the best record in the NHL.

Columbus, improved to 23-5-4 — its best start in franchise history — and has not lost since Nov. 26. Montreal, which outshot Columbus 37-24, fell to 21-9-4.

The win was a league-leading 20th for goalie Sergei Bobvrosky, who kept Columbus in the game despite an apathetic third period in which the Blue Jackets took just five shots.

Sam Gagner put Columbus on the board at 17:50 of the first period, 16 seconds into a Canadiens bench minor for too many men on the ice. It was his 15th goal on the season and sixth on the power play.

The Jackets made it 2-0 with Brandon Saad’s 13th goal of the season, just 1:22 into the second period.

The Canadians dominated the puck in the third period, and made it 2-1 with Jeff Petry’s goal at 9:08.

Notes: Both Columbus and Montreal were playing the second of two games in consecutive nights. … The Blue Jackets signed RW Vitaly Abramov to a three-year entry level contract. Abramov was the Jackets’ third-round selection, 65th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft. … With his assist in the first period, Cam Atkinson became the fourth player in Columbus history to score 200 points. … Seth Jones left the game at 1:12 of the first period after taking a puck to the mouth. … Atkinson continued his career-high nine-game point streak. He currently leads the team in goals (15).

UP NEXT:

The Canadiens play Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jackets are off until Tuesday when they host Boston,