The Colorado Avalanche make their final stop on their road trip through Canada tonight when they face the Montréal Canadiens at Bell Center.
However, they’ll take the ice without two of their best players joining them.
Colorado Avalanche (11-6-3)
The Opponent: Montréal Canadiens (12-3-4)
Time: 5:00 P.M. MST/7:00 P.M. EST
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are coming into tonight’s game off the heels of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators this past Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Avs’ special teams went to work. Artturi Lehkonen scored his team-leading fourteenth goal of the season on the power play in the second period. Parker Kelly recorded a shorthanded goal—the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season—early in the third period to tie the game, and a power play goal from Gabe Landeskog put the Avs ahead with less then ten minutes to play in the period.
Ottawa’s Drake Batherson tied the game late in regulation, and Shane Pinto capitalized on a botched pass from Kelly moments before scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. Scott Wedgewood stopped twenty-two of twenty-four shots in the contest.
The Avs finished the contest without the services of both Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, having lost both to injury. MacKinnon was on the receiving end of a cross check from Ottawa’s Artem Zub late in the second period. He went to the locker room prior to intermission and didn’t finish the game. Makar’s injury appeared to take place during the second period, but unlike MacKinnon, his didn’t appear to be from the result of a body check or a fall to the ice. He also didn’t finish the game.
Head coach Jared Bednar announced earlier this morning that both MacKinnon and Makar will miss time: Makar will be out for two weeks, while MacKinnon will be out for the next month. In the interim, the Avs will insert Gavin Brindley, who was recalled from Loveland yesterday, into the lineup. Defenseman Alex Gagne will make his NHL debut tonight, while defenseman Brent Burns will skate in his 1600th career game. Mackenzie Blackwood will likely start tonight.
In his postgame comments on Thursday, head coach Jared Bednar seemed pleased with how his team performed in the wake of the injuries to his star players. “I liked our effort all around,” He said. “It’s a good hockey team we played. If you’re running without a couple of horses, you know, for half the game, so, pretty gutsy effort from our group. I’ll take it. I mean, we weren’t perfect. We made some mistakes; they cost us, but all in all, I’m pretty happy with what we did. It’s a big point.”
The Avs have collected three of a possible four points thus far during this road trip, and the prospect of a victory in Montréal looms large. The Avs split the season series against Montréal last year, but lost by a score of 7-3 during their previous visit to La Belle Province. For you superstitious folks out there, they were wearing their Quebec Nordiques heritage jerseys in that contest, and Montréal is wearing their Hometown Remix jerseys tonight.
Just sayin’.
The injured MacKinnon leads all skaters in points (30) and assists (20). Defenseman Devon Toews is enjoying an offensive flourish this season, as he leads all defensemen in goals (7). A win tonight could move Blackwood into a tie for second place (11) in wins among League goaltenders.
With the exception of Nashville, all Central Division teams are in action tonight. A win tonight keeps the Avs within pace of the second-place Predators, while remaining ahead of Dallas, Utah, Winnipeg, and St. Louis in the Central Division standings.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen -Brock Nelson – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Nicolas Roy – T.J. Hughes
Jaden Schwartz – Nazem Kadri – Logan O’Connor
Parker Kelly – Fedor Svechkov – Gavin Brindley
Defense:
Devon Toews – Brett Kulak
Noah Juulsen – Sam Malinski
Alex Gagne – Brent Burns
Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Montréal Canadiens
After bowing out to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, Montréal is out to prove last season’s deep playoff run wasn’t a fluke. General manager Kent Hughes moved quickly to secure some key pieces of his roster this summer. He signed star right wing Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, $73.2 million dollar contract extension and standout goaltender Jakub Dobeš to a three-year, $16 million+ dollar contract, respectively, during the first two days of free agency in July.
The rest of the summer was quiet for Hughes until September. Hughes then signed left wing Chris Kreider signed a one-year, $5.4 million dollar contract on September 12, while forward Zachary Bolduc, acquired last season from St. Louis, signed a four-year, $16.8 million dollar contract the next day. Two days later, former Avalanche forward Alex Newhook signed a four-year, $22.2 million dollar contract extension.
With several of their key pieces now locked into long-term contracts, the organization is now focused on making another deep playoff run, and their current record reflects that goal. Coming into tonight’s game against Colorado, Montréal currently shares the Atlantic Division lead with Tampa. They’ve won three of their previous four games, their most recent being a 5-2 defeat of their longstanding rival Boston at T.D. Garden this past Thursday.
However, the injury bug has started to make its presence known in Montréal. Demidov has missed over a month with a fractured ankle, and goaltender Sam Montembeault has been out of action since October 31 with a lower body injury. Earlier today, the organization announced that Kreider will miss 6-8 weeks with a lower body injury, while defenseman Mike Matheson is considered a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Colorado.
Right wing Cole Caufield and defenseman Lane Hutson lead all Montréal skaters in points (18). Caufield’s twelve goals—none of which were scored on an empty net, to the delight and/or relief of Montréal fans everywhere—is first among all Montréal skaters.
Hutson lead the team in assists (10), while goaltender Jacob Fowler ranks third among all League goaltenders in wins (9). Defenseman Arber Hekaj leads all Montréal skaters in penalty minutes (32).
Tonight kicks off a stretch of five games in seven days for Montréal. After facing Colorado tonight, they will start a three game road trip next Monday. Montréal will wrap up the season series with Colorado on November 25 at Ball Arena.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovský
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson
Owen Beck – Oliver Kapanen – Kirby Dach
Defense:
Kaiden Guhle – Mike Matheson
Lane Hutson – Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier
Between the Pipes:
Jacob Fowler
Jakub Dobeš
