Recap: Brock Nelson’s shootout tally wins it, the Avalanche survive the Canadiens

4 weeks ago  /  Mile High Hockey

David Kirouac-Imagn Images


The Avalanche had a commanding 4-1 lead entering the third period, but it nearly came unglued. Tour De Canada ended with Montreal madness, but the Colorado Avalanche overcame a rough third period to escape Bell Centre with a 5-4 victory Saturday night.
The Avalanche entered the third period with a commanding 4-1 advantage until the Canadiens nailed Colorado with a three-spot to even things up before the end of regulation. After a scoreless overtime period, Brock Nelson scored the shootout-winning goal to give his team the victory. He also scored earlier in the game while Sam Malinski, Martin Nečas, and Ryan Lindgren each lit the lamp for the Avs. Mackenzie Blackwood also recorded the 100th win of his NHL career.
First Period
The Avalanche were red hot from the onset, firing a conglomeration of shots on Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault, who made some solid saves and stoned a series of rebounds. But 7:35 into the period, his lucky charm went out the window when Kiviranta fed Sam Malinski a one-timer, and the 26-year-old ripped it into the back of the net to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. It was Malinski’s third goal of the season. Then 2:34 later, the Avalanche made it 2-0 when Ryan Lindgren snapped one by Montembeault.


Beautiful team goal here! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/cyZM5uTylY— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) March 22, 2025




Nichushkin had a chance to give Colorado a 3-0 advantage in the closing stages of the first, but just as he tried to get his stick on a loose puck in front of a wide-open net, Montembeault was somehow able to deny him with the stick.
Second Period
To start, 2:46 into the second period, Keaton Middleton and Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves. That seemed to pump both sides as offensive opportunities began to open up. After Juraj Slafkovsky was whistled for jumping on the ice too soon, the Avalanche capitalized on the power play when Drouin found Nečas, and the latter shoveled it in from the backdoor for his 24th goal of the season. That 3-0 lead, however, quickly became 3-1. Twenty-seven seconds later, Slafkovsky rebounded from his earlier miscue and re-directed a shot from Jayden Struble right by Blackwood.


MARTY!! #GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/BCV066tDcA— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) March 23, 2025




The goal shifted momentum in Montreal’s direction. As they approached the 10-minute mark, the Canadiens had outshot the Avs 7-2 in the period. Miles Wood was also penalized for tripping during this timeframe, but his teammates were able to kill off the penalty successfully.
It became a penalty fest in the late stages. Both teams got in a scrum behind the Montreal net. Charlie Coyle was penalized for cross-checking Struble, and both Josh Anderson and Ross Colton were sent to the box after both men potshot one another with a pair of right hands. Just under a minute after that and following a delay, Toews was boxed for hooking Lane Hutson, putting Montreal on a critical 5-on-3 power play. The shenanigans continued with nearly two minutes left to play in the period when Mike Matheson and MacKinnon were both boxed for a series of transgressions. Matheson was dinged for roughing against MacKinnon, while the latter was also sentenced for high-sticking his counterpart.
Third Period
First, 3:58 into the final period, Nelson scored his third goal in his past two games when he re-directed a shot from Toews, who let it fly from the left corner of the blue line. Nelson was in perfect position for the tip and it landed top shelf for the goal. For Nelson, it was his 23rd goal of the season.
With 10:36 left in the game, the Canadiens got their second goal of the contest when Joshua Roy poked a rebound by Blackwood to make it a 4-2 game. Former Av Alex Newhook got the play going by splitting the defense and making a spin-o-rama move to get the initial shot off before Roy saved the day. Thirty seconds later, Montreal cut the deficit to one when Slafkovsky snapped a wrister by Blackwood. And just when you thought Colorado would easily escape Tour De Canada, Montreal said, “Not so fast.”
And indeed, the Canadiens weren’t done. Christian Dvorak skated in and fired a backhander over Blackwood’s glove with 6:28 to go to tie the game at four.
With the score tied at four at the end of regulation, both sides went to overtime.

Overtime
Slavkovsky was penalized with 2:25 remaining in the overtime period for holding Makar. Despite heavy pressure from the Avalanche offense, Montembeault came up big in the net to send the game into a shootout.
Shootout
Nelson scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give Colorado the win. Charlie Coyle also scored in the shootout. Montreal’s Patrik Laine scored for his club in the shootout, but it was not enough.



Brock Nelson appreciation post. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/vDaAmBiKhB— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 23, 2025




Takeaways
Well, we got away with one there. The Avs played great hockey until the third period, but nothing beats adversity like overcoming it. The bottom line is that we won the game and can address how to prevent this collapse in practice. Like the last game, Nelson is starting to gel with this team. Devon Toews played a great game, and credit to the guys for sticking with it even when the game erupted into a penalty fest. We could have gotten ourselves into a lot of bad situations had we continued the cycle. As for the Canadiens, it was a well-played, hard-fought game. This game was old-school hockey, and it was a pleasure to watch. If they can build around the guys they have now, this Canadiens team will be a Stanley Cup threat in the future. They have a plethora of fresh, fast guys that can take over a game, and we’ll see how they do in the future.
Next Game
The Avalanche (45-25-3) return to the ice Tuesday at Ball Arena to face Patrick Kane and the Detroit Red Wings (32-30-6). Puck drop is at 7 p.m. local time. ...

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