Multi-Effort Game Powers Avalanche Over Canadiens

Tres bonne.
The Colorado Avalanche were victorious over the Montreal Canadiens with an 8-4 win on Monday evening at Bell Centre as the Avalanche opened up a four-game road trip.Colorado is now 37-22-6 for their season record and rank third in the Central Division standings.

For the Avalanche, Artturi Lehkonen (2G, 1A), Bowen Byram, Matt Nieto, Mikko Rantanen (1G, 1A), J.T. Compher (1G, 1A), Nathan MacKinnon (1G, power play, 1A), Valeri Nichushkin (1G, power play, 2A) scored. Cale Makar dished out three helpers, while Devon Toews and Evan Rodrigues each handed out two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 15 of the 19 shots he faced.
For the Canadiens, Josh Anderson (1G, 1A), Chris Wideman, Mike Matheson scored, while Denis Gurianov added a power-play goal. Nick Suzuki dished out two assists. Jake Allen made 9 saves on 15 shots through 23:58 minutes, while Sam Montembeault made 16 saves on 18 shots through 36:00 minutes as he replaced Allen during the second period.

GAME SUMMARY:

The Avalanche executed a dominant game against the Canadiens to kick off their four-game road trip.
The team got off to a commanding start over the Canadiens as they took a 4-1 lead, scoring four goals on eight shots and tallied three of those goals in the span of 5:06.
The Avalanche's first three goals were all netted at even strength as O'Connor opened the scoring at 2:59. From the left faceoff circle, Devon Toews threaded a pass up to above the faceoff circles where O'Connor then beat Allen with a wrist shot on just the second shot of the game.
At 6:09 and following a long zone shift, Byram snatched a puck from Samel Girard - who hails from Roberval, Quebec - drove to the net, dragged the puck across the crease and tucked his shot past Allen after a nifty backhand-to-forehand move.

Just 1:56 later and off a clean line change, Nieto collected a pass from Lars Eller, charged to the net, deked from his forehand-to-backhand and beat Allen to extend the Avlanche's lead 3-0
After an extended period of play without stoppage, a TV timeout finally ensued as Montreal blueliner Mike Matheson was called for hi-sticking at 15:22. During the TV timeout, the Canadiens' jumbotron featured a tribute video to Lehkonen, who played six seasons for the club after being selected 55th overall at the 2013 NHL Draft, as he made his first return since being dealt to the Avalanche last spring.
Lehkonen shared a heartfelt moment with the crowd as he received a warm welcome back. Seconds after play resumed, Lehkonen scored on the power play. to extend Colorado's lead 4-0.

Mikko Rantanen fired a shot from distance that deflected off Lehkonen at the net front and a Canadiens' stick to beat Allen. Despite the Avalanche potting another goal, the crowd at Bell Centre cheered as it was Lehkonen who found the back of the net.
The Canadiens - who to this point, had only put up two shots on net - managed to beat Georgiev late in the frame at 18:58. Off a Suzuki faceoff win, the puck spat out to the point to Johnathan Kovacevic, who lofted a shot on net. En route, Anderson batted the puck out of the air which took a fortuitous deflection to beat Georgiev.
The Avalanche didn't relent one bit as the second period ensued and instead scored two goals in the span of two minutes to take a 6-1 lead, which resulted in Montreal Head Coach Martin St. Louis pulling Allen from the pipes in place of Montembeault.
Colorado furthered its lead 5-1 at 1:48 as Compher fired a shot on net from distance. Allen made the initial stop, but Toews swooped in for the rebound and sent the puck to the backdoor for Rodrigues across the slot. The winger passed the puck to the net front where Rantanen tapped in his team-leading 43rd goal of the season.
Two minutes later, Lehkonen sent a pass from the wall into the slot for Nichushkin. The Russian winger stickhanded before sending the puck to the backdoor for Compher to tap it in and end Allen's night in Montreal's net.
Lehkonen left the game in the second period and did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury.
As the second period came to a close, the intensity rose during a scrum between Nathan MacKinnon and Kaiden Guhle after MacKinnon tripped Guhle and was penalized for it and Jack Johnson joined in and he and Guhle were administered matching roughing minors.
On Montreal's power play off a faceoff win from Suzuki, Guarianov beat Georgiev with a lower shot past his pad at 19:18.
Colorado faced a push from the Canadiens, who outshot them 10-8 in the third period and found the back of the net twice, but the Avalanche capitalized twice on the power play during the final frame to help buoy their eventual 8-4 win.
Just under the midway mark of the third period, the Avalanche furthered their score 7-2 on a tremendous power-play goal from MacKinnon, who drew the penalty on Rafael Harvey-Pinard at 8:09. MacKinnon took the puck from the defensive zone, carried it all the way to the offensive zone and beat Montembeault.

The Canadiens scored two quick strikes in the span of 1:47. Wideman buried the first strike as he beat Georgiev with a wrist shot from distance at 8:48 and Matheson did the same on a similar shot from the point at 10:35 to trim Colorado's lead down 7-4.
At 13:09, the Avalanche extended their lead 8-4 with their third power-play goal of the game. Nichushkin redirected Rodrigues' shot past Montembeault at the net front to secure the 8-4 win.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Byram tallied his sixth goal of the season.
• Nieto scored his 12th goal of the season.
• Lehkonen recorded his 19th and 20ths goals of the season and his eighth on the power play. The winger hit the 20-goal mark for the first time ever in his career as he also notched his 100th-career goal.
• Rantanen tallied his team-leading 43rd goal of the season.
• Compher registered his 14th goal of the season.
• MacKinnon scored his 29th goal of the season and his eighth on the power play.
• Nichushkin put away his 13th goal of the season and his eighth on the power play.
• With an assist Nieto's goal, Lars Eller recorded his first point as a member of the Avalanche.
• Georgiev made his 48th start of the season and improved his record to 29-14-5.
• Colorado finished the game 3-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
• Kurtis MacDermid (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche continue their four-game road trip in Toronto on Wednesday evening at Scotiabank Arena. The puck drops between the Avs and Leafs at 5:00 p.m. MT.