Recap: Avalanche win streak snapped as offense falls flat against Canadiens

1 week ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images


The Avalanche lose in extra time for the first time this season. I guess you won’t win them all.
On Saturday night, the Colorado Avalanche were defeated by the visiting Montreal Canadiens by a final score of 2-1. After going up 1-0 early in the contest, the Avs as a whole fell flat, and were unable to get into high gear for much of the night against a Habs team who was coming off a 4-2 loss in Chicago to the Blackhawks on Friday evening.
Despite getting a point, the six-game win streak the Avs rode into the contest with was snapped, and in a boring, painstakingly frustrating fashion.
Let’s break it all down.
First Period
Coming in against a Habs team who played last night and was icing Jakub Dobes in between the pipes, there was a clear emphasis to get shots in on the unproven goaltender early, who was coming off of a shutout in his NHL debut. The Avs did exactly that, dominating possession time and working down the Canadiens defense en route to shots on net.
The Avs relentless pressure early resulted in two separate power plays before the halfway mark of the period. The Avs failed to capitalize on a Cole Caufield hooking penalty, but a did score a couple of minutes later on an Alex Newhook slashing call.
After Mikko Rantanen dug a puck free along the right half wall to keep the offensive possession alive, he found Cale Makar at the blueline, who found Nathan MacKinnon on the left half wall. MacKinnon lasered a feed towards the back post, and found a Moose crossing towards the backdoor. Rantanen tapped the puck home for the Avs 1-0 lead, and made it goals in four consecutive games.


The Moose is loose! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/N50QPKCA0w— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 5, 2025




Shortly after, Montreal got their first powerplay on a questionable call. Ross Colton was sprung for a mini-breakaway at the Habs blueline, and only had Habs Defenseman Lane Hutson trailing him. Colton fired a shot that was stopped by Dobes, and was simultaneously pushed by Hutson into Dobes, resulting in a goalie Interference call.
One night pushing an opponent into the goaltender and injuring him is not a penalty for goalie interference, and the next night it is, oh well.


Ross Colton goes off for goaltender interference as he CRASHES into rookie tendy Jakub Dobes pic.twitter.com/BpmDMSbENp— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 5, 2025




The Avs killed the penalty, and things calmed down. In the final two minutes of the frame, the Habs started to come alive in the offensive zone after spending much of the period defending, but couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances.
Colorado skated into the dressing room up 1-0.
Second Period
Things slowed down tremendously in the second frame as the Avs cooled off a bit from their energetic start. The top line of MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Jonathan Drouin contributed a solid shift early in the period and generated some chances, but were unable to capitalize on the pressure.
Much of the period was sleepy for both sides though. Montreal looked better than they did in the first frame, but still weren’t producing much of anything offensively. At the halfway mark of the game the Habs were sitting on only 6 shots on goal, and had yet to challenge Mackenzie Blackwood in any significant manner.
Things weren’t much better for the Avs, however. They only accounted for two shots on goal in the final 14 minutes of the period, and were struggling to establish sustained zone pressure the way they did in the opening period.
Late in the frame, Rantanen was tripped up, sending Colorado to their third power play of the contest. Again though, Colorado struggled to generate much with the advantage, and didn’t register a shot on this powerplay.
The top line closed the period with a solid shift in the Montreal zone in the final minute, but the Habs prevented the puck from reaching Dobes.
The score remained 1-0 Colorado after 40 minutes of play.
Third Period
It was Montreal who came out with the tempo to open the third period, getting a solid chance on Blackwood only 30 seconds into the frame, which he turned aside.
The Habs got an abbreviated power play, only their second of the game, which was quickly halted by a penalty of their own.
With just under 12 minutes to go in the game, Blackwood made his best save of the contest, sliding over to rob Jake Evans on a one-time blast.
The Habs continued their push through the period, and with under seven minutes to go, the Habs finally buried one. Jake Evans stripped Parker Kelly of the puck, which allowed Montreal to quickly spring the other way with their top guns.
A beautiful clearing feed from Lane Hutson sent Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on a 2-on-1 rush. Suzuki found Caufield, Caufield found twine, and the Canadiens found a tie game late.
You can only let a team hang around for so long, the Avs were in need of a wake-up call, as Montreal has been the better team since the beginning of the 2nd period.


Cole Caufield in the clutch! : SNE : Stream on Sportsnet+ pic.twitter.com/1LZ0mSrpdL— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 5, 2025




The Avs would get a late power play after Kaiden Guhle was called for a hold on MacKinnon behind the Habs net, and nearly scored with the delayed call, but Rantanen’s shot towards an open cage hit a player in front.
The Avs failed to score, and the game headed to Overtime tied at one.
Overtime
Things got a bit crazy in the extra frame.
The penalty to Guhle only extended into the first 15 seconds of overtime, but he almost made the game-winning play immediately stepping out of the penalty box. MacKinnon blasted a one-timer wide of the net, and rimmed it all the way out of the zone right towards the penalty boxes, where Guhle was waiting for a breakaway chance. His bid was denied by Blackwood, and they played on.
Shortly after, Devon Toews and Josh Anderson got into a cross-checking battle after a whistle, which sent both to the box. Then, the Avs were sent to the box for goaltender interference for the second time of the contest after Artturi Lehkonen crashed into Dobes on a mini-breakaway chance. Dobes was shaken up on the play, but remained in the game as the Habs went to the power play.
They only mustered one shot on net during the advantage, and upon conclusion, Lehkonen was sprung out of the box for another breakaway chance. He tried to go five hole, but Dobes shut the door.


A missed breakaway from the Avalanche, and we are headed to a shootout. pic.twitter.com/LzTUdqnPRm— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 5, 2025




This one would need a shootout to be decided.
Shootout
Cole Caufield got things started in the shootout, putting a wrister past the blocker side of Blackwood for the 1-0 advantage. Drouin was unable to match on the other side.
Nick Suzuki had Blackwood beat to the backhand on his attempt, but the puck got away from him before he could slide it towards the net. Rantanen was subsequentially stuffed by Dobes on his attempt.
With the game on his stick, Kirby Dach slotted a puck past Blackwood, this time to Blackwood’s glove side, and the Habs on the second night of a back-to-back defeated the Avalanche by a final score of 2-1.


THE HABS WIN IN THE SHOOTOUT! pic.twitter.com/UBmRTwDf06— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 5, 2025




Takeaways
The Avalanche looked very flat beyond the first period tonight. After starting the game with a ton of energy and dominating the first 10 minutes, they failed to maintain that same grasp on the game, and progressively got worse as the game went on. MacKinnon and Makar looked a bit spent tonight after logging heavy minutes against Buffalo in an emotional comeback effort on Thursday. Games like this happen for superstars.
The second line struggled immensely tonight. Casey Mittelstadt’s struggles continue on, as he was crushed by the Habs. With corsi numbers of 4 CF and 17 CA in only 12:27 of ice time, it was another difficult night in what is slowly becoming a forgettable first full season in Colorado. Ross Colton also struggled alongside Mittelstadt tonight, and it showed in their usage, as the Kiviranta-Kelly-O’Connor line got similar usage.
The Avs were called for goaltender interference twice in this contest, and there’s an argument to be made that the Avs were guided/pushed into Jakub Dobes both times. The definition of the rule continues to change depending on the day.
Upcoming
The Avs will continue this homestand by welcoming in Matthew Tkachuk, and the reigning cup champs, the Florida Panthers. Puck drop is set for January 6 at 7:00 p.m....

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