*Photo from Mile High Hockey*
This was no regular game, it was an offensive gunshow. Cale Makar had 3 assists, Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Montreal Canadiens with an 8-4 victory on Monday night in Montreal.
Makar, Lehkonen, and Valeri Nichushkin each had 3 point games for the Avalanche, with Nichushkin having a goal and two assists. Devon Toevs and Logan O'Connor also had two assists. Unfortunately for Lehkonen, he also broke his finger during the game and will be out long term.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar gave an injury update on Lehkonen, saying that "He'll leave tomorrow from Toronto to head back and then follow it up with surgery the next day. I know he got hit with a shot."
Lehkonen got the Avalanche on the board first, scoring 2:59 into the game to make it 1-0 Avalanche. Bowen Byram, Matt Nieto, and Lehkonen scored again for the Avalanche, making it a 4-0 score. Josh Anderson answered back for the Canadiens with 1:02 left in the period, making it 4-1 after the first period.
Rantanen scored early in the second period, making the score 5-1 just 1:48 into the second. JT Compher scored his 14th goal of the season 2:10 after Rantanen's goal, making the lead 6-1. Denis Gurianov added a power play goal for the Canadiens with 42 seconds left in the second, making the score 6-2.
With the Avalanche on a power play 8:09 into the 3rd period, Nathan MacKinnon scored his 29th goal of the season to make the score 7-2. Jesse Ylonen scored his 3rd goal of the season and Mike Matheson added his 6th for the Canadiens, cutting the deficit to 7-4. Nichushkin then scored for the Avalanche to make it 8-4, which went final.
O'Connor said of the game "That's exactly how we would have liked to start. I think we didn't end the game on the right note; for example, we thought we could have been a little tighter and better in the third period. But we're definitely happy with the win overall to start this four-game road trip off."
Getting the start for the Avalanche was Alexandar Georgiev, who played solid despite a low shot volume. Georgiev stopped 15 of the 19 shots he saw, good for a .789 save percentage. His record stands at 29-14-5 this season.
Jake Allen got the start for the Canadiens, getting shelled by the Avalanche to fall to 14-22-3 in 39 starts. Allen saved only 9 of the 15 shots he saw from Colorado, getting pulled in favor of Sam Montembeault. In relief, Montembeault made 16 saves on 18 shots.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said that "They have so much motion and movement. It's positionless offense and it can get very confusing, and I think we just got away from how we want to defend that. We were just so preoccupied with the movement instead of sticking to how we're supposed to defend it. And I definitely saw improvement, so we used the next two periods, especially the third, to try to correct ourselves a little bit and learn from it."
The Canadiens wrap up a back to back by facing the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night, with Montembeault expected to start. Georgiev is the projected starter for the Avalanche when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
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