Canadiens 5, Blue Jackets 2: Rookie Jacob De La Rose scored his first two career goals as visiting Montreal won its third straight by beating Columbus for the second time in six days.

P.K. Subban recorded a goal and two assists, fellow defenseman Andrei Markov added one of each and Max Pacioretty scored for the seventh time in 10 games as the Canadiens opened a three-point lead atop the Eastern Conference. Carey Price turned aside 25 shots to win his 10th consecutive road game while improving to 8-0-1 in his last nine overall starts.

Brandon Dubinsky and rookie Marko Dano tallied for the Blue Jackets, who absorbed their fourth consecutive defeat (0-3-1). Defenseman David Savard collected a pair of assists and Curtis McElhinney made 22 saves.

Montreal jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the opening 4:25 as Subban and Markov sandwiched goals on point blasts around a tally by Dubinsky, who beat Price on a drive to the net but tumbled over Canadiens defenseman Tom Gilbert and landed on his back and neck as he fell into the boards. Pacioretty made it 3-1 with 5:24 left in the period, beating McElhinney to the stick side from near the left hash marks for his 30th goal.

Columbus' Corey Tropp made a spectacular play in the second period after his initial shot was denied by Price, popping the rebound from the top of the net while on his back and punching it home out of mid-air, but the play was ruled dead once the puck landed atop the net. De La Rose redirected Brandon Prust's shot 5 1/2 minutes into the third before Dano converted in traffic 2:20 later.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Blue Jackets made a pair of trades, acquiring underachieving RW David Clarkson - a former 30-goal scorer - from Toronto for injured RW Nathan Horton, who has not played this season as he deals with a career-threatening degenerative condition in his back. Columbus also shipped RW Adam Cracknell to St. Louis for future considerations. ... Canadiens RW Devante Smith-Pelly, acquired from Anaheim for rookie LW Jiri Sekac, registered four hits and two shots on goal in his Montreal debut. ... Dubinsky suffered an upper-body injury after scoring his fifth goal in eight games and did not return.