Canadiens stop Avalanche's win streak at 10 games
For the Colorado Avalanche, this one didn't go to 11.
A goal and two assists from Jonathan Drouin helped the Montreal Canadiens win 4-2 and snap Colorado's winning streak at 10 games on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.
It was the first loss since Dec. 27 for Colorado (27-17-3), which was one of the NHL's worst teams last season but had emerged as one of the hottest in 2018. The Canadiens (20-22-6), who have struggled versus Western Conference teams all season, got 20 saves from Carey Price in the win.
Jonathan Bernier turned in a 36-save performance for the Avalanche, who got a third period goals from MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon and from J.T. Compher in the final seconds to deny Price the shutout. It was the team-leading 24th goal of the season for MacKinnon.
After a scoreless first period, Alex Galchenyuk's pass helped set up Nicholas Deslauriers to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. Barely two minutes later, a Paul Byron pass set up Galchenyuk's 12th goal of the season, which established a two-goal Canadiens lead after 40 minutes.
Drouin, who assisted on both of the second period goals, scored the eventual game-winner a little more than 12 minutes into the third for a 3-0 Montreal lead. MacKinnon's goal off a pass from defenseman Erik Johnson made it 3-1, but Brendan Gallagher's unassisted goal with under two minutes to play made it 4-1 for the home team.
Compher capped the scoring with 12 seconds left on the clock. Colorado had not lost since dropping a 3-1 home decision to the Arizona Coyotes in their first game after the league-mandated break over the holidays.
For the Canadiens, it was just their seventh win versus a Western Conference team in 22 meetings. The Avalanche visit St. Louis on Thursday, while the Canadiens host Carolina on Thursday.
--Field Level Media