First period
- Martin St-Louis puts Alex Newhook at centre to take the opening faceoff versus his former team.
- Nathan MacKinnon gets the point streak over and done with, with a goal 43 seconds in. The Nova Scotian now has points in 35 consecutive home games.
- The coaching staff took a long look at the zone entry, but deemed
- Nick Suzuki isn’t going to allow this to become a blowout. He answers right back nine seconds later. Justus Annunen wasn’t expecting him to shoot the puck for some reason.
- That’s 29 goals for the captain, so he should get to 30, if not 35 on the season.
- Slafkovský assisted on the goal by taken out the man at centre ice who tried to intercept the pass. That probably won’t count as a point, however.
- Cole Caufield pounces on a giveaway and Annunen has to make a save.
- Montreal’s top line is looking creative tonight. Lots of good fakes with possession from the captain and Caufield.
- Suzuki is now in the box for a hooking penalty that wasn’t very creative at all.
- Newhook gets a round of applause in a tribute at the first TV timeout.
- Colorado passes he puck all the way around the perimeter about three times. Eventually they get a shot, and it goes square off the post.
- Miles Wood gets three point-blank saves as Colorado runs a pick to break Montreal’s coverage. Wood eventually gets shoved to the ice by Arber Xhekaj,, and the ref believed he did so with a cross-check, which he didn’t.
- Montreal’s penalty-kill structure continues to hold, and it seems Colorado isn’t prepared for that.
- Suzuki just missed the net on Slafkovský’s backhand feed from behind the net.
- Now Newhook misses the net by about the same amount as Suzuki did.
- Brendan Gallagher makes a zone exit pass … right to a Colorado defenceman. I miss the old Gallagher.
- But then he boxes two defenders away from the post to allow Joel Armia to wrap the puck around and in, so old Gallagher is still here with us after all.
- Goals from different lines is what you need to keep pace with this team.
- Slafkovský does now have an assist on the Suzuki goal, so he’s matched his career high point streak, which he set in mid-February.
- Slafkovský has set the scoring record for a Habs teenager, which will stand until Macklin Celebrini breaks it next year.
- A trade of good chnces between the teams’ second lines. Newhook came close to making it 3-1, then Casey Mittelstadt just about tied it up.
- The period ends with the top trio looking for another goal. A fun period of hockey.
Second period
- Arber Xhekaj gets in a few shoves on a man at centre, perhaps trying to teach the officials the difference between them and cross-checks.
- It’s all Colorado in the opening minutes of the second period. It’s really strange how often this happens. They always figure it out eventually.
- Caufield may have prevented MacKinnon from adding his second goal of the game by tying up his stick at the side of the net. That was a long defensive-zone shift for the Suzuki line.
- Lots of zone time for Colorado, but again not many shots.
- Meanwhile, the Canadiens have attempted three shots since Armia’s goal.
- Jordan Harris is off to the box for high-sticking, and the Habs will try to keep their PK perfect.
- Montreal was the better team on that penalty kill, with some smart decisions from the forwards to kill it off.
- The penalty kill has turned momentum in this period.
- I don’t know how to feel about Xhekaj shoving down Artturi Lehkonen. At least no one was hurt.
- Kaiden Guhle jumps up in the play and just misses the net on a cross-crease pass.
- Suzuki gets tossed out of an offensive-zone draw, Caufield comes it and wins it cleanly to the point.
- Montreal ends up with three scoring chances on the shift.
- And in the end, the shots wind up just about even again after a hot start from Colorado. It’s just a phase the Habs have to go through every night.
Third period
- More pressure from Colorado to start. Did Montreal forget it already played the second period?
- Montreal has a little discussion about a D-zone faceoff. The linesman looks like a substitute teacher as he tries to keep them from talking and take the draw.
- Colorado has had enough of just cycling the puck around the perimeter and is now trying to force shots though, but Montreal is blocking all of the attempts.
- MacKinnon just made both members of Montreal’s top pairing look silly with his speed and hands on a rush. Fortunately, it won’t be immortalized on a highlight reel because MacKinnon missed the backhand shot.
- Josh Anderson got taken down on the way to the net but there was no call. After turnover, he gets in alone again, and this time the ref has to call a hook.
- This will be Montreal’s first power play of the game.
- TSN’s Habs broadcast selects MacKinnon’s goal as the “big moment of the game” over, you know, one of the two goals Montreal scored to take the lead.
- Montreal’s power play looked more dangerous than anything Colorado mustered on its man advantages, but no goal came of it.
- The power play will go right back to work as Gallagher … draws a penalty? This could be four minutes for high-sticking because he is a bit of a bleeder.
- It is four minutes, of the final five to play.
- Don’t give up a short-handed goal.
- Suzuki flubs an early look at the side of the net.
- Caufield bobbled the puck at the blue line and instead of desperately trying to win it back he exited the zone to play defence. I hope Matheson was paying attention.
- The Avalanche pull Annunen once the penalty expires, but Montembeault calmly stops the couple of shots that get through the wall of bodies. Montreal wins 2-1
- It’s the first win in Colorado in almost 10 years. The Avalanche’s nine-game winning streak is over.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) He could have been yours for just a first-round pick
2) A real marketing opportunity there
1) They don’t need one of the defencemen anyway
