MONTREAL — Zachary Bolduc scored the winner with his first goal since Dec. 23, and the Montreal Canadiens edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Thursday night.

Jayden Struble — with his first of the season — also scored and Jakub Dobes made 25 saves as Montreal (40-21-10) won its third consecutive game.

Damon Severson replied for Columbus (38-23-11) and Jet Greaves stopped 18 shots.

The Blue Jackets fell to 19-4-4 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as head coach Jan. 12. They climbed from 28th overall to second in the Metropolitan Division ahead of Thursday’s games.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, sit third in the Atlantic Division with 11 games remaining.

Bolduc ripped a shot into the top-left corner 4:36 into the third period to snap a 31-game goalless skid and give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.

Struble ended a drought of his own when he opened the scoring at 9:54 in the first period. He snuck a wrist shot past Greaves short side for his first goal since Nov. 26, 2024. 

Two minutes later, Severson got Columbus on the board by beating Dobes blocker-side on a 2-on-1 after Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson was caught up ice.

Canadiens: Dobes was on his game again after posting a career-high 41 saves in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. His play kept the score even after 20 minutes, despite Columbus dominating the shot count 13-6.

Blue Jackets: Struggled to build momentum after a dominant start. Columbus had eight shots on goal before the game was only eight minutes old, yet only registered 13 in the second and third period combined.

Mason Marchment barrelled down on a break with 2:12 remaining in the second period, only for Dobes to stretch out his left pad and deny the Blue Jackets forward’s deke to backhand. A chorus of “Do-by!” followed from the Bell Centre crowd.

With an assist on Struble’s goal, Hutson became the fourth defenceman in Canadiens history to register 70 points in a season — and the first since Chris Chelios in 1988-89. Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe also reached the mark.

Canadiens: Visit the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Blue Jackets: Host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.