Avs Uses Strong Finish to Top Habs
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Montreal Canadiens.On a Saturday night when they honored former defenseman Adam Foote by retiring his No. 52, the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche got third-period goals from rookie Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O'Reilly 3:30 apart to break a 1-1 tie, and PA Parenteau scored into an empty net with 37.9 seconds remaining to seal it.
MacKinnon put the Avalanche in front 2-1 at 8:01 after Gabriel Landeskog, who scored in the second period, fired a hard shot while skating down the left wing. Goalie Peter Budaj made the stop, but the rebound bounced into the slot and MacKinnon knocked it into the net.
MacKinnon's second goal of the season was his first at home and first in eight games. He last scored Oct. 12 against the Washington Capitals.
O'Reilly made it 3-1 at 11:31 when he gained possession behind the Canadiens net, moved in front and slipped it behind Budaj for his first goal in five games and fourth overall.
The Canadiens tied the game 1-1 on a power-play goal by Brendan Gallagher at 3:38 of the third period. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped P.K. Subban's shot from high in the slot, but Gallagher was right in front to score on the rebound.
The goal came 35 seconds after Maxime Talbot was assessed a slashing penalty. The Avalanche had killed two previous Canadiens power plays and 20 penalties in a row covering parts of six games.
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead at 11:14 of the second period on a goal by Landeskog, who has scored all five of his goals in the past seven games.
Landeskog scooped up the puck just outside the Canadiens blue line, skated into the left faceoff circle and hammered a shot over Budaj's right shoulder.
Giguere won all three of his previous three starts with two shutouts, a 0.67 goals-against average and .981 save percentage.
Budaj, who spent six seasons with the Avalanche, won both of his previous two starts with a shutout, a 0.50 goals-against average and .982 save percentage.
Each team was coming off a road game and playing on the second night of a back-to-back situation. The Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime and the Canadiens lost 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild.
Avalanche right wing Alex Tanguay sustained a knee injury in the second period on a hard hit into the boards and didn't return.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
03/11/2013 - 06:30
