Canadiens bury Avalanche 10-1
MONTREAL -- Max Pacioretty scored four goals and added an assist as the Montreal Canadiens buried the Colorado Avalanche 10-1 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Tomas Plekanec record four assists for Montreal, which also got goals from Brian Flynn (two), Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron, Alexander Radulov and Jeff Petry.
Blake Comeau scored for Colorado (10-15-1).
Carey Price made 15 saves for the Canadiens (19-6-3), who are 14-1-1 on home ice this season.
Calvin Pickard stopped 16 shots while Semyon Varlamov stopped 10 of 16 faced in a period and a half of relief.
Pickard returned to start the third period but the Canadiens weren't done.
Pacioretty scored his fourth of the game at 7:28 of the third period when he poked home a loose puck right by Pickard's pad.
The Canadiens' offense exploded with an avalanche of goals in the first period.
Flynn got the rout going when he scored on a rebound for his first goal of the season at 2:56.
Pacioretty doubled the lead just over two minutes later with a wicked wrister that went top shelf and then Lehkonen got in on the action with a backhander in the crease.
That chased Pickard from the net after giving up three goals on 10 shots.
But Varlamov didn't fare much better.
Pacioretty picked up his second goal of the game when he tipped in Andrei Markov's point shot and then Byron converted on a breakaway.
Flynn connected again when his backhander from the left circle beat Varlamov five-hole, putting Montreal ahead 6-0 at 13:47. It's the second fastest the Canadiens reached six goals to start a game in franchise history behind the record set at 10:35 on March 10, 1951, against Chicago.
It also marked the first time since January 14, 2006, against the San Jose Sharks (at the Bell Centre) that the Canadiens scored six goals in a period.
The Avalanche didn't leave the period empty-handed, with Comeau busting the shutout with 13 seconds remaining in the period.
But Montreal kept the goals coming in the second period. Radulov scored his sixth of the season at 11:35, Pacioretty completed his hat trick at 18:33 and Petry hit the back of the net on the power play with one-tenth of a second remaining in the period.
NOTES: Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla suited up for his 1,500th career NHL game, giving him sole possession of 16th place on the league's games played list. ... Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog returned to lineup after missing 10 games because of injury. ... The Avalanche scratched D Eric Gelinas and LW Cody McLeod. ... The Canadiens scratched RW Michael McCarron and D Mark Barberio, both of whom were called up from the American Hockey League's St. John's IceCaps on Friday night. ... Montreal C Tomas Plekanec appeared in his 871st career game, tying him with Steve Shutt for 14th on the team's games played list.