December 23rd, 1982
Montreal Canadiens (22-18-2) at Columbus Blue Jackets (18-16-7)
Montreal will go on the road to face the Blue Jackets. Montreal is currently tied for 3rd in the Atlantic, but the Bruins have 2 games in hand. LW
Lorenzo Bocci will be back in the line-up. With Bocci back the lines have been adjusted. Bocci goes back on the 1st line with C
Chris Hughes and RW
Al Ladd, the 2nd line remains the same. LW
Batsaikhany Vanoosten will drop to the 3rd line with C
Jiri Reichel and RW
Ronnie Marvin.
The Blue Jackets are currently in 10th place in the East with 43 points, 3 points out of the final playoff spot. Columbus is 3rd in the NHL with allowing only 2.15 GAA per game.
RW
Peter Peterson leads the Blue Jackets with 15 goals and has 27 points in 41 games. The 24 year old Peterson is a two way forward with a great defensive game. It is said he has fantastic vision to read the play. In his 3rd season with the club, he has 65 goals and 141 points with 79 PIMs and a +44 rating in 201 games.
C
Samuel Chabot leads the Blue Jackets with 25 assists and leads with 37 points in 41 games. The 28 year old from Gatineau, QC was an All-Star in 1982. The Offensive Forward is a strong playmaker but not a physical player. In 3 seasons with Columbus, he has 61 goals and 176 points with 114 PIMs and a +57 rating in 199 NHL games.
LW
Rob Hudson is 3rd with 26 points for Columbus, including 11 goals in 33 games. The 28 year old is nursing a foot contusion and is listed day to day. The two-way player is a goal scorer, but is not a physical player. In 176 NHL games, all with the Blue Jackets, he has 57 goals and 128 points with 158 PIMs and a +45 rating.
Montreal will start G
Mike Blackshear with his 19 wins in 34 starts and a .896 save %. Columbus will start G
Chris Neal, he has 15 wins in 34 starts with a .933 save %.
Montreal took just 2:32 of time to get its first shot on net tonight, and it was a goal by LD
Andrew Rickford, his 1st career NHL goal to make it 1-0. Welcome back LW
Lorenzo Bocci as he got an assist on the goal. Columbus ties it 1-1 at 12:21 of the 1st when RD
Phillippe Lamoureux gets his 1st of his NHL career as well. Montreal out shot Columbus 12 to 4 and
Bocci had 2 shots in 10:19 of ice time.
Columbus took a 2-1 lead at 4:58 of the 2nd when RW
Peter Peterson got his 16th of the season.
Peterson gets his 2nd of the night to make it 3-1 on the PP at 7:10 of the 2nd. The 2nd period was all Columbus, they out shot Montreal 13 to 6 and are 1 for 1 on the PP, Montreal is 0 for 3.
Columbus extends their lead to 4-1 at 6:06 when C
Maxime Vachon gets his 2nd of the year. Montreal kept putting the pressure on Columbus, but despite the 17 to 7 shot advantage in the 3rd, the Blue Jackets got the only goal and won. Montreal was 0 for 6 on the PP while Columbus was 1 for 2.
Columbus C Maxime Vachon was named the 1st star with a goal and an assist. The 20 year old Vachon from Longueuil, QC now has 2 goals and 6 points in 36 games. In his 2nd season with the Blue Jackets the former Halifax Moosehead has 9 goals and 31 points with 42 PIMs and a +12 rating in 108 NHL games. Vachon was Columbus's 111th overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.
Columbus 4
Montreal 1
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st | MTL | Andrew Rickford | 1 | Lorenzo Bocci | Chris Hughes |
| 1st | COL | Phillippe Lamoureux | 1 | Maxime Vachon |
|
| 2nd | COL | Peter Peterson | 16 | Samuel Chabot | Christopher Van Kessel |
| 2nd | COL | Peter Peterson (PP) | 17 | Jimmy States | Samuel Chabot |
| 3rd | COL | Maxime Vachon | 2 | Pascal Menard |
|
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| COL | Chris Neal | 35 | 1 |
| MTL | Mike Blackshear | 24 | 4 |
Around the league............
Nashville Predators C
Jeremy Longboat had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over the Capitals. The 25 year old Longboat now has 21 goals and 51 points in 42 games. The 1982 All-Star has 80 goals and 188 points with 200 PIMs and a +24 rating in 206 career NHL games, all with the Predators.