MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens signed defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron for his offensive skills and they paid a dividend Tuesday night as he scored two goals, including the winner, in a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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Montreal Canadiens' Glen Metropolit (L) pushes the puck past the glove of Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Mathieu Garon (on ground) to score as Blue Jackets' Anton Stralman (6) skates in during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal November 24, 2009.

Photograph by : Reuters

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The Canadiens went into the game without eight players from their opening-day roster, but goaltender Carey Price kept the score close and his teammates rallied from a 3-2 deficit with three third-period goals.

Centre Glen Metropolit tied the score for Montreal when he went to the net and poked home a rebound at 2:18 after defenceman Roman Hamrlik's shot from the blue-line struck the crossbar and bounced off the back of Columbus goaltender Mathieu Garon.

The goal gave the Canadiens an emotional lift and Bergeron put the Canadiens ahead when he scored at 4:56 after a flurry of shots. Garon poke-checked the puck away from forward Max Pacioretty on a breakaway and forward Ryan White fired wide on the rebound. But White followed his shot behind the net and found Bergeron as he pinched in.

Canadiens centre Maxim Lapierre added an insurance goal at 15:25, beating Garon on a two-on-one break with forward Sergei Kostitsyn after Price had weathered a goalmouth scramble.

In the first two periods, the power play provided the Blue Jackets with an edge. Blue Jackets forward Antoine Vermette scored his second goal of the game to give Columbus a 3-2 lead at 11:46 of the second period.

It was also the second power-play goal for the Blue Jackets, who went 2-for-4. Special teams have been become a concern for the Canadiens, who went 0-for-3 with the man advantage Tuesday night and are 5-for-34 over the last 14 games. The opposition is 14-for-69 over the same period.

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin has preached the need for more discipline and the penalty which led to Vermette's second goal was a case in point. Travis Moen was called for a retaliation roughing penalty against Rick Nash.

Mike Cammalleri continued on his hot streak, scoring his 12th goal of the season to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 5:50 of the first period.

Cammalleri, who has four goals in the last three games, took a long shot through defenceman Rostislav Klesla's legs and it fooled Garon. He managed to get a piece of the, but it dribbled through his pads.

The lead was short-lived.

Vermette beat Price at 6:36 with a quick shot from the slot to the right of the goaltender.
Nash, who is better known as a goal-scorer than a playmaker, set up the goal with a blind, cross-ice pass.

The Blue Jackets took advantage of their power play after Josh Gorges was sent off for clipping Jared Boll at 8:05. Seven seconds later, Anton Stralman scored to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.

Stralman pinched in and was rewarded when Nash's centring pass from the opposite side was deflected and found its way to Stralman.

The Canadiens flew to Pittsburgh immediately after the game and will meet the Penguins on Wednesday in their last-ever regular-season visit to Mellon Arena. The Blue Jackets will face the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday.

Montreal Gazette