Canadiens stop Avalanche winning streak at 10

MONTREAL --The Colorado Avalanche had their 10-game winning streak end with a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.
Colorado's winning streak, the longest in the NHL this season, is the second-longest in franchise history. The longest is 12 games, from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7, 1999.

The Avalanche (27-17-3) trailed for 94 seconds during the streak, all in a 4-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. They had outscored their opponents 41-16 in the 10 games.
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Canadiens highlights]
"It was a good run, it's over, you've got to move on," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I don't know, it looked like we were out of gas tonight. That's what it looked like, that's how we played. They were more determined, they were more physical, they won more battles and doubled us up in almost every category of the game."
Jonathan Drouin had a goal and two assists for Montreal (20-22-6), and Carey Price made 20 saves.
"That's when we're at our best, when we're skating, forechecking and on them," Drouin said. "I think we did that the whole night."
The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead when Nicolas Deslauriers and Alex Galchenyuk scored 2:16 apart in the second period.
Drouin made it 3-0 with his seventh goal at 12:36 of the third period.
Nathan MacKinnon drew Colorado within 3-1 with his 24th goal at 14:11.

Brendan Gallagher scored into an empty net at 18:24 to make it 4-1.
J.T. Compher cut the lead to 4-2 when he scored at 19:48 with Avalanche goaltender Jonathan Bernier pulled for an extra attacker.

"They worked harder than us," Bernier said. "We know as a team we didn't play our best game tonight."
Bernier, who ended a nine-game winning streak, made 36 saves. He is 0-7-2 in nine games in Montreal, and 1-10-3 in 14 games against the Canadiens.
"He was great," Bednar said. "He was the one guy that didn't look tired."
Deslauriers gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 5:42 of the second. He shot past Bernier for his seventh goal after Drouin's shot from the slot struck Avalanche defenseman Mark Barberio.
Galchenyuk, who assisted on Deslauriers' goal, made it 2-0 with his 12th goal, on a power play, at 7:58.

Goal of the game

Galchenyuk's goal at 7:58 of the second period.

Save of the game

Price's save on Carl Soderberg's shorthanded shot at 7:02 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Drouin's goal at 12:36 of the third period.

They said it

"We had no room to move and it didn't look like we had a bunch of jump to try and fight through some of that stuff." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"We played well defensively. I think we closed their game down quickly because they're a dangerous team when you give them space to skate in your zone." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Need to know

Bernier's winning streak was tied for the second-longest in franchise history with Stephane Fiset, who won nine straight games for the Avalanche from Oct. 18 to Nov. 18, 1995. Patrick Roy holds the franchise record with 11 consecutive wins, from Jan. 12 to Feb. 7, 1999.

What's next

Avalanche: At the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, ALT2, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-SE, NHL.TV)