Montreal Canadiens (17-17-3) @ Colorado Avalanche (24-15-0)
5 p.m. MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Altitude, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (950 AM)
On the heels of a thrilling victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, the Avalanche, winners of their last six, host the Canadiens. Saturday’s game is the third of a four-game homestand for the Avs and the second of three-straight matchups with Atlantic Division teams. This is the first of two meetings between the teams, as they’ll play in Montreal on March 22.
Latest Result (COL): BUF 5, COL 6 (OT)
Latest Result (MTL): MTL 2, CHI 4
Rocky Mountain Mayhem
The Avs beat the Sabres 6-5 in overtime at Ball Arena on Thursday to win their sixth-straight game and improve to 24-15-0. Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews each posted three points while Cale Makar scored two goals.
After trailing 3-0 more than halfway through the second period, Makar put the Avs on the board at 14:58 with a right-circle wrist shot. At 1:05 of the third period, Ross Colton scored his 12th goal of the season and pulled the Burgundy and Blue within one with a shot from the right doorstep.
Just 22 seconds later, Buffalo regained its two-goal advantage with a goal from Zach Benson. The sequence started when Benson collided with Avs goalie Scott Wedgewood, leaving the netminder laying down injured in the net. After the collision, the puck went to the corner, where Peyton Krebs moved it back to Benson, who scored with a wraparound. After the goal, Mackenzie Blackwood replaced Wedgewood in the Avs’ net.
At 4:17 of the third, Mikko Rantanen scored his 22nd goal of the season with his signature right-circle one-timer on the power play to make it a one-goal game. Once again, Buffalo regained its two-goal lead when Jason Zucker completed his hat trick at 16:09.
With the goalie pulled, Makar scored his second of the night and 13th of the season with a left-circle one-timer at 17:34. Down one goal with under 30 seconds to go, the Avs emptied their net for an extra attacker again, and tied the game with eight seconds left courtesy of Jonathan Drouin’s third goal of the year. The goal sent the Ball Arena crowd and its playoff-like atmosphere into a frenzy. At 48 seconds of overtime, Toews completed the Avs’ comeback with a world-class 200-foot play, scoring his third of the year after taking the puck from Tage Thompson and scoring on a breakaway.
Leading the Way
Nate the Great
MacKinnon leads the league in points (64) and assists (50). On Thursday, he became the sixth player in NHL history to record 50 assists in 40 or fewer games in a season, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Adam Oates, Denis Savard and Bobby Orr.
All Hail Cale
Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (13), assists (35) and points (48). Among all NHL skaters, he’s sixth in assists and 10th in points.
Moose Crossing
Rantanen is third in points (56), tied for sixth in goals (22) and tied for seventh in assists (34).
History
In 39 regular-season meetings with the Canadiens, the Avalanche are 24-12-3, including 5-2-0 in their last seven.
Beaten By the Blackhawks
The Canadiens lost 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Friday. Chicago’s Tyler Bertuzzi opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 3:21 of the first period. Late in the first period, Cole Caufield tied the game with a goal at 18:24. In the second period, Nick Foligno gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 7:05 and Pat Maroon doubled Chicago’s lead at 3:01 of the third. Montreal pulled within one when Emil Heineman scored a power-play goal at 9:45, but Foligno’s second of the game at 15:51, the final tally of the contest, re-established Chicago’s two-goal advantage.
A Loss on Lake Michigan
MacKinnon has posted 16 points (7g/9a) in 17 games against Montreal.
In seven games against the Canadiens, Makar has registered nine points (2g/7a).
Rantanen has recorded 13 points (6g/7a) in 13 matchups against Montreal.
Canadiens’ Contributors
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal in points (37) and assists (26).
Caufield leads the Canadiens in goals (20) and is second in points (35).
Lane Hutson is second on the team in assists (24) and third in points (26).
A Numbers Game
2
Since the league began tracking data in 2009-10, Thursday marked the first time the Avalanche scored two goals with their goalie pulled to tie the game and went on to win.
3.46
The Avalanche’s 3.46 goals per game are the fifth most in the NHL.
21
Rantanen has posted 21 points (7g/14a) during his current 12-game point streak.
Quote That Left a Mark
“[The] best part was probably [that] the crowd was electric the last [part of the] third period. It was so loud. So thanks to the fans, for sure."
-- Mikko Rantanen on the crowd after Jonathan Drouin’s goal
