MONTREAL CANADIENS (26-32-12) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (46-20-5)
7:00 PM MDT | BALL ARENA | WATCH: ALTITUDE TV | LISTEN: 92.5 FM
Colorado continues its five-game home stand Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens at Ball Arena. The Avs have won nine consecutive games, their longest streak of the season and it stands as the longest active winning streak in the NHL. It is also tied for the fourth-longest in franchise history. The Canadiens have lost four of their past five games coming into tonight’s matchup. The Canadiens sit tied (Ottawa) for the second-least amount of points in the Eastern Conference, having accumulated 64 points his season.
Latest Results:
March 24, 2024 COL: 5 PIT: 4 (OT)
March 24, 2024 MTL: 5 SEA: 1
ICING THE PENGUINS
The Avs defeated the Penguins 5-4 in overtime Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena. The win was the 28th home win of the campaign. That’s tied for the second-most home victories in a season in franchise history (record:32 in 2021-22). Pittsburgh tallied four-straight to open the scoring, getting contributions from Jesse Puljujarvi, Bryan Rust, Sidney Crosby and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Colorado responded with five-straight tallies starting in the second period with goals from Sean Walker and Yakov Trenin. The Avalanche potted two more from Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon in the third frame to send the game to overtime. Drouin tallied his second of the night 54 seconds into overtime to extend the winning streak to nine games.
AVS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nathan MacKinnon registered 1g/2a to extend both his season-opening home point streak and overall point streak to 34 and 18 games, respectively. The 34-game home point streak is now the second-longest in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky’s 40-game run in 1988-89 is the only longer one the League has ever seen. MacKinnon also broke the Avalanche team record for most points in a single season, now with 122 (44g/78a). His 78 assists rank as the second-most in a season since the team relocated to Denver (Forsberg, 86 in 1995-96).
Drouin netted the overtime goal, his first as an Avalanche and third of his career. The winger finished his outing with 2g/1a, marking his third straight multi-point game and fourth straight showing on the scoresheet. Drouin has totaled 2g/6a over his four-game point streak.
Cale Makar reached 60 assists on the campaign with a helper tonight, the second Avalanche/Nordiques defenseman ever to reach the milestone. He’s collected points in each of his last six games (1g/7a).
Walker scored his third goal as an Avalanche and ninth of the season. The blueliner has lit the lamp three times in his last four games and is up to 26 points (9g/17a) over 70 games between the Flyers and Avalanche this season.
Brandon Duhaime skated in his 200th career game and notched an assist. He’s registered 10 points (4g/6a) in 69 games between the Wild and Avalanche this season.
Yakov Trenin recorded his first goal and point as a member of the Avalanche.
HISTORY
The Avalanche/Nordiques own a 63-73-15-0 all-time record against the Canadiens, and a 41-28-5-0 mark at home. Colorado is 10-4-0 in the past 14 matchups with them, outscoring the Habs 43-35. The Avalanche are 6-1-0 since 2014-15 at Ball Arena against the Canadiens. Colorado has not lost at home against Montreal since December 1, 2014.
SUCCESS IN SEATTLE
The Canadiens snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday, by getting the best of the Kraken 5-1. Montreal got off to a fast start scoring four times in the period. Kaiden Guhle, Alex Newhook (twice) and Nick Suzuki found the back of the net. Seattle scored their lone goal 56 seconds into the second period when Jordan Eberle lit the lamp. The Canadiens would extend the lead to four in the second period when Mike Matheson potted a shorthanded goal.
STATS TO KNOW
Makar led the Avalanche with three points (1g/2a) in the first matchup against Montreal this season.
Former Hab and Quebec native Jonathan Drouin has tallied 46 points (14g/32a) this season. It is the most goals, assists and points he has recorded in a campaign since 2018-19 with Montreal (18g/35a).
Since being acquired from Montreal during the 2021-22 cup run, Artturi Lehkonen has recorded 85 points (39g/46a) as a member of the Avalanche. He recorded career-highs in goals (21), assists (30) and points (51) in his first full season in Colorado (2022-23).
MONTREAL MAGIC
Mike Mathseon has recorded the eleventh-most points by an NHL blueliner this season with 48 (10g/38a).
Juraj Slafkovsky has tallied 39 points (15g/24a) this campaign, tying Mario Tremblay (1974-75) for the most in a season by a teenager in Canadiens history.
Cole Caufield has potted 73 career goals. That is the second-most of any player from the 2019 NHL Draft class.
NUMBERS GAME
346
MacKinnon leads all NHL skaters with 346 shots in the 2023-24 season.
46
The Avalanche lead the Western Conference in wins this season with 46.
39
Mikko Rantanen ranks tied for the ninth-most goals in the NHL this season with 39.
QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK
“It was calm, maybe not as calm as before. I think we knew we were right there, those little plays they were kind of batting every puck out of the air, getting every bounce. We stuck with it and got our chances.”
- Colorado RW Jonathan Drouin on Sunday’s comeback victory
