{"id":564386,"date":"2026-03-27T13:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/564386\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:16:07","slug":"huge-weight-off-his-chest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/564386\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Huge weight off his chest’"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Zachary Bolduc<\/a> was loading up a shot from the slot when Jayden Struble<\/a> began shouting for a pass.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens<\/a> forward hadn\u2019t scored in 31 games and had a prime chance to end his drought. Instead, he passed it up to help Struble snap his own.<\/p>\n

Bolduc slipped the puck over to his defenceman for an even better look, and Struble beat Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> netminder Jet Greaves<\/a> short-side for his first goal in a whopping 485 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought about shooting, but when I heard Jayden, who really wanted the puck, I faked it,\u201d Bolduc said. \u201cThen I saw the winger that was on Jayden moved toward me, so there I sent it his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was yelling,\u201d added Struble. \u201cI was screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Bolduc\u2019s patience paid off later.<\/p>\n

He ripped a shot into the top-left corner at 4:36 of the third period to lift the Canadiens past the Blue Jackets 2-1 on Thursday with his first goal since Dec. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s tough, you want to contribute, you want to help the team win, but I was finding ways to contribute even though I wasn\u2019t getting on the scoresheet,\u201d he said. \u201cTo finally do it tonight, it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolduc arrived in Montreal with high expectations after scoring 19 goals in 72 games as a rookie with the St. Louis Blues<\/a> last season, but the transition to playing in his home province hasn\u2019t been seamless for the 23-year-old from Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, Que.<\/p>\n

Acquired in an off-season trade for defenceman Logan Mailloux<\/a>, the six-foot, 187-pound winger scored just his 11th goal in 61 games Thursday \u2014 despite opening the season with goals in three straight games. He\u2019s also watched games from the press box as a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been up and down through the year,\u201d he said. \u201cBut now I feel really comfortable on the ice and into the system and everything. It\u2019s been feeling really, really good on the ice with my linemates. I got chemistry with my linemates, so it makes the game so much easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing alongside centre Jake Evans<\/a> and winger Josh Anderson<\/a>, Bolduc had two shots and three hits on top of his game-winner and assist Thursday, earning the game\u2019s first star.<\/p>\n

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis<\/a> thought his breakthrough was just a matter of time based on Bolduc\u2019s consistent 200-foot play of late.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoldy\u2019s got great offensive reads. He didn\u2019t score his whole life because he didn\u2019t have great offensive reads,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cBut to create more instances, you\u2019ve got to understand the collective game defensively, whether it\u2019s forecheck, tracking back, D-zone, whatever it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that in the last month, he\u2019s really put it all together off the puck, offensively too. I wish he\u2019d get rewarded more often, but you can tell it\u2019s coming, and for me that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Struble said he was elated for Bolduc, especially since the goalless stretch probably weighed more heavily on the forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe actually scores goals,\u201d said Struble, who converted only the sixth of his career. \u201cIt might have hurt him a little bit more, I don\u2019t really care about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s gotta be a huge weight off his chest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montreal (40-21-10) sits third in the Atlantic Division with 90 points, four clear of the Ottawa Senators<\/a> \u2014 the top team outside the playoff picture \u2014 with one game in hand.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens extended their winning streak to three games, beating a red-hot and defensively sound Blue Jackets team that has gone 19-4-4 under coach Rick Bowness since Jan. 12.<\/p>\n

They also did it without production from the top line of Nick Suzuki<\/a>, Cole Caufield<\/a> and Juraj Slafkovsky.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t rely on our top guys all the time,\u201d said Evans, who set up Bolduc\u2019s goal. \u201cA lot of us, we don\u2019t want to force anything and (we) play a simpler game than some of our more skilled guys. But we do need to help out a lot, and come playoff time we can\u2019t really rely on one line to produce.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOMINANT DOBES<\/p>\n

Jakub Dobes<\/a> was solid for the Canadiens with 25 stops, further cementing his grip as Montreal\u2019s No. 1 goalie after posting a career-high 41 saves in Tuesday\u2019s 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He kept the score even after 20 minutes, despite Columbus dominating the shot count 13-6, and improved his record to an impressive 24-8-4.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been lights out for us,\u201d Struble said. \u201cHe\u2019s just so hot right now. Love the guy, so it\u2019s good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The candid Dobes, who is not speaking with the media for an indefinite period per team decision, has especially come on of late with a .931 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average in his last seven starts. <\/p>\n

With the game tied 1-1 on Thursday, the 24-year-old stretched out his left pad to deny Mason Marchment<\/a>\u2019s deke to the backhand on a breakaway with 2:12 remaining in the second period. A chorus of \u201cDo-by!\u201d followed from the Bell Centre crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s playing really good hockey, it\u2019s a big part of our success,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cHockey is a game of errors, and you try to make as few as possible, but when you do make mistakes, you hope your goalie fixes them. And he\u2019s doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEELS UP<\/p>\n

The Canadiens head out on a five-game road trip, beginning Saturday against the Nashville Predators<\/a>. They\u2019ll return to the Bell Centre on April 5 against the New Jersey Devils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Montreal boasts an 18-8-8 record on the road, the sixth-best away record in the league.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2026.<\/p>\n

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 Zachary Bolduc was loading up a shot from the slot when Jayden Struble began shouting for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338,82],"class_list":["post-564386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}