The Montreal Canadiens ended the Colorado Avalanche’s nine-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory in Denver.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 2 vs Colorado Avalanche 1 | FINAL
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
11 Brendan Gallagher - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
17 Josh Anderson - 71 Jake Evans - 56 Jesse Ylonen
55 Michael Pezzetta - 36 Colin White - 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Jesse Ylonen, Jayden Struble
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Joshua Roy (hand)
Rocket Hockey Report
It's been almost 10 years since the Canadiens recorded a win in Denver. Tonight, Montreal got their scoring done in the first period and hung on for a win.
It didn't start well for the visitors. Nathan MacKinnon potted his 45th goal of the season just 43 seconds into the contest. But just nine seconds later Nick Suzuki tied the game fooling Colorado goaltender Justus Annunen.
With just over five minutes left in the opening frame, Joel Armia broke the tie scoring on a wrap-around. And that's all of the offense the Canadiens would need on this evening.
The Canadiens defended well the rest of the way, and took advantage of lax defensive coverage of the Avs to keep Colorado occupied in their own zone.
Montreal was helped by a four minute power play to end the game when Sean Walker was tagged for high-sticking Brendan Gallagher.
Suzuki set a new career record with his 67th point. With an assist on the captain's goal, Juraj Slafkovsky registered his 40th point of the season.
Sam Montembeault made 27 saves to end a six-game personal losing streak.
The Avalanche honored Alex Newhook with a tribute video during a stoppage of play.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (27-32-12)
Shots: 27
Face-off %: 54.4
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 18
Blocks: 20
Avalanche (46-21-5)
Shots: 28
Face-off %: 45.6
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 12
Blocks: 12
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Suzuki (29), Armia (12)
2nd period: --
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: --
Avalanche Scorers
1st period: MacKinnon (45)
2nd period: --
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (W) 14-13-7
COL: Annunen (L) 5-3-1
Canadiens Player of the Game
Joel Armia - Armia scored the game-winner and led the Canadiens with six shots on goal. Armia and Jake Evans logged the most penalty-killing minutes keeping the Avs off the scoreboard via the power play.
Video Highlights
Post-game Quotes
Nick Suzuki
"We played for [Marty St. Louis.] He's been through a lot over the last 10 days, and he was excited to come back. It's obviously great to have him back. We missed him. We were trying to do the job while he was away, and [he] definitely gave us a bit of energy coming back."
Alex Newhook
“I think it's a good testament to our character in this room. To go down early like that sucks. But I thought we did a good job to answer."
Up Next
The Canadiens return home to begin a five-game homestand beginning on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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