Montembeault stops 27, Canadiens end Avalanche’s 9-game winning streak

DENVER -- Sam Montembeault made 27 saves, and the Montreal Canadiens ended the Colorado Avalanche’s nine-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis returned after being away from the team since March 16 because of family reasons.

“We played for him,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. “He's been through a lot over the last 10 days, and he was excited to come back. It's obviously great to have him back. We missed him. We were trying to do the job while he was away, and [he] definitely gave us a bit of energy coming back.”

Joel Armia and Suzuki scored for the Canadiens (27-32-12), who have won two straight.

Nathan MacKinnon scored to extend his home point streak to 35 games and overall point streak to 19 games for the Avalanche (46-21-5), who had won 11 of 12. Justus Annunen made 25 saves.

“It's frustrating because we didn't check hard enough in the first period, you know? So tonight, we don't outscore our mistakes,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Their goalie played well, and we missed on some really good opportunities, and we don't get the equalizer. We had to fight the whole game to try and get it. Couldn't get it, and so every time you lose, it's frustrating, but it is what it is. We got to take it, learn from it, and move on.”

MacKinnon has 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) during his season-opening home streak, which is the second-longest in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky owns the record at 40 games (Los Angeles Kings, 1988-89). MacKinnon also became the first player in NHL history to have two point streaks of at least 19 games in the same season.

MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the game on a one-timer from the right circle. Mikko Rantanen made a shovel pass at the left side of the net, floating the puck across to MacKinnon.

“You have to respect every team in this league,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “Even my dad was telling me like how good they've been lately just in terms of just work ethic. So, we're always prepared going into games. It's not like we're underestimating teams.”

Suzuki scored nine seconds later to tie it 1-1 when he slipped a check from Casey Mittelstadt at the blue line, skated in alone on Annunen and scored five-hole with a wrist shot.

“We raise our game against good competition. I think it really forces guys to be dialed in,” Suzuki said. “If we're not dialed in all night, they're going to pick us apart. It was a great performance by everyone, and it was a huge win for us.”

Armia gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 14:53 of the first period after he located a loose puck behind Annunen and took it behind the net for a wraparound.

“I think it's a good testament to our character in this room. To go down early like that [stinks],” Montreal forward Alex Newhook said. “But I thought we did a good job to answer. ‘Suzy’ coming back and scoring one right away was huge for us. I think it kind of lifted us up there, and then [we] played a pretty solid game I think for the rest of the game. To keep those guys to one goal is pretty good in my book.”

NOTES: Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky had the primary assist on Suzuki's goal to extend his point streak to eight games (two goals, six assists). Slafkovsky, who turns 20 on Saturday, became the third player in Canadiens history to reach 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists in 110 games) prior to turning 20, joining Mario Tremblay (66 points; 32 goals, 34 assists in 134 games) and Alex Galchenyuk (50 points; 19 goals, 31 assists in 92 games). … MacKinnon tied Milan Hejduk (eight) for the most opening-minute goals in Avalanche/Nordiques history. … MacKinnon has 38 points (13 goals, 25 assists) during his 19-game point streak.