COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A tough season for David Desharnais finally produced a bright spot. Desharnais scored in the shootout -- the only time he has found the net all season -- and Peter Budaj stopped all three shots he faced in the tiebreaker to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. "You know what? He played well," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said of Desharnais, the fifth-year pro who has one assist in 17 games this season. "He started on the fourth line and I saw his intensity in practice this week. "Im really glad for him and his confidence that he ended up scoring the goal in the shootout." Desharnais had been contributing so little that he was a healthy scratch in two of the previous four games. But he had a good percentage in shootouts last season, and that was enough for Therrien to send him out. Desharnais took his turn after the first three shooters were stopped. He came in and netted a hard forehand on Curtis McElhinneys stick side. "He had a quick release there," McElhinney said. "Shootouts are always difficult ways to end games." Budaj, giving starter Carey Price a night off before the Canadiens face the New York Rangers at home on Saturday night, had earlier stopped Mark Letestu and Anisimov. He blocked Ryan Johansens forehand attempt to clinch the win. Budaj, who had 23 saves, said Desharnais finally got repaid for his hard work. "David works so hard. Nobody sees that," Budaj said. "It has been tough for him, but he stayed the course like a true professional and kept working hard. The coach put him there, and he was ready. His hard work paid off. He made a big, big goal for us." Montreals regulation goals were scored by Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller. R.J. Umberger and Artem Anisimov had first-period goals for the Blue Jackets. McElhinney made 38 saves. The game pitted teams that have been struggling. The Canadiens had lost five of six (1-3-2), and the Blue Jackets have now dropped eight of nine (1-6-2) -- although they have earned at least a point in their last four games. "Were doing a lot of good things. I think thats maybe the frustrating part," forward Nick Foligno said. "There just seems to be that lull, that little moment in the game where we give them a chance to come back or we let them hang around. We had a 2-0 game. Youve got to find a way to hold that lead." The Blue Jackets took that two-goal lead in the first period, one on a gift, but then helped give one back in the final seconds. The first came at 15:33 when Umberger was at the short boards on the left wing and fired a shot that Budaj missed because of a screen in front to make it 1-0. Columbus continued to pressure, and David Savards slap shot from the top of the right circle clanged off the post. Seconds later, Anisimov took a backhand swing at a loose puck that appeared to ramp off a Canadiens stick. The puck sailed high, and with Jared Boll on his back in the crease while bumping into Budaj, the puck lazily bounced into the net. After the Blue Jackets Jack Johnson and Montreals Brandon Prust went off with concurrent penalties, the Canadiens scored a goofy goal. Columbus defenceman Fedor Tyutin whiffed twice on a bouncing puck at the blue line, and Galchenyuk swooped in to beat McElhinney with a forehand with just 8 seconds left in the period. The Canadiens tied it on the power play at 7:34 of the second. They had gotten several prime opportunities on their first attempt with a man advantage. This time Daniel Briere had a clear shot from the high slot, but McElhinney blocked it. The rebound squirted off to the right doorstep where Eller jammed it in under McElhinneys right arm for his seventh goal. Budaj never let the Blue Jackets regain the lead. "Theres a disconnect somewhere," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "Weve talked about it a lot. In the first period we execute, do the right things, have some success, and then we abandon it." NOTES: The Blue Jackets sustained a major blow Friday when it was announced RW Marian Gaborik will miss 4-to-6 weeks after spraining his left knee in a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston on Thursday. ... LW Prust returned to the Montreal lineup after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury. ... Columbus LW Matt Calvert, who has missed several weeks after abdominal surgery, and rookie C Boone Jenner, who missed his ninth game with a leg injury, are both skating. They could be available when the Blue Jackets start a season-high, five-game road trip on Sunday at Ottawa. ... Montreal killed 36 seconds of 3-on-5 in the first period. Fake Soccer Jerseys . The 28-year-old lefty made his MLB debut in 2013, making 10 starts and going 2-5 with 4.05 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Albers was named the Twins organizations minor league pitcher of the year for 2013. Soccer Jerseys China . 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He spent most of the outing searching for his best stuff, but still managed to shut down the struggling Minnesota Twins offence.The 2014-15 NBA season will begin this week with a different feel to it. Not because Steve Nash wont be playing to start the season, after all, he only played in 15 games last season. But because he wont be playing at all. Or likely ever again. Which means we have witnessed the passing of the most significant and greatest athlete this country has ever produced. Whether that is true will always be a matter of debate. Thats just the nature of sports. And in a country where hockey sucks up so much of the oxygen, the mere suggestion that the greatest athlete in Canadian history might not be a hockey player will be considered heresy to many. But consider some of the factors that favour Nash as our greatest sporting talent ever. First his place in NBA history, a two-time MVP, third all-time in assists, the greatest free-throw shooter in history, one of the best shooters of all time – period. Then you get to the aspects of his game that are impossible to quantify statistically, his vision, the dynamic his presence brought to a game, the way that he made it impossible to predict what he would do with the ball in almost any instance. If you never saw Steve Nash play live, you missed out because, even in todays age, television could not do him justice. But to really appreciate Nashs achievements, you need to understand the depth of field in the sport of basketball. For two seasons, he was considered the Most Valuable basketball player on the planet.dddddddddddd In a sport which has 450 million participants worldwide, nobody was better at it than Steve Nash. Think about that, there are roughly 13 times as many people who play basketball on earth as there are people in Canada. Its a game thats accessible to nearly everyone, across North and South America, in Africa, all across Asia and beyond. We dont really appreciate what it means to become the best player in a sport with that much reach. Theres no doubt Canada has produced hockey players who were more dominant in their sport than Nash has been in his, most notably Wayne Gretzky. But there are roughly 1.65 million hockey players on the face of the earth. Or put another way, the pool of people playing basketball right now is about 272 times larger than that which plays hockey. Think about that when youre trying to put Steve Nash in order among Canadas greatest athletes. In terms of significance, given the length of his career and his global reach of the NBA as a worldwide television property like no other North American sports league, no other Canadian athlete has performed before more sets of eyeballs. Until Canada produces the greatest soccer player on earth, Steve Nash should be recognized as the greatest and most significant Canadian athlete ever. ' ' '