HabsWorld.net -- 

The Avalanche arrived in town for a Saturday night tussle with the Canadiens, but without two of their biggest stars, as both Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon had been injured in the team’s previous game in Ottawa. The Habs, for their part, are still without Ivan Demidov, and now also Chris Kreider and Mike Matheson, drawing in Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom.

Even without Makar and MacKinnon, though, the Avalanche were the better team on this night. They were able to take advantage of their opportunities, whereas the home team was held to a single goal. Mackenzie Blackwood played a strong game for the visitors, and the Habs’ power play was ineffectual. On the Habs’ side of the ice, Jakub Dobes had a bit of a shaky start but steadied as the game went on.

Habs Lineup

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Danault – Texier
Xhekaj – Evans – Anderson
Newhook – Kapanen – Dach

Hutson – Dobson
Guhle – Carrier
Xhekaj – Engstrom

Dobes
Fowler

Game Points

– The Habs showed some decent pressure in the first few minutes of the game, but they lost some of the wind from their sails when Fedor Svechkov opened the scoring just before the four-minute mark. With the Avalanche rushing in across the right side of the Habs’ blue line, Arber Xhekaj covered Logan O’Connor but Svechkov skated in behind and then around O’Connor and Xhekaj. He saw Parker Kelly coming in on the opposite side of Jakub Dobes, and sent a pass across the front of the net. However, the puck bounced into the net off the skate of Adam Engstrom, who was trying to cut off that very pass. An unlucky bounce, then, but it put the Avalanche ahead early–on their first shot on net, too.

– Speaking of bad luck, Zachary Bolduc had Engstrom beat on that count. He first missed a wide-open Colorado net from 15 feet out, snapping the puck wide, with 4:30 remaining in the first. Ten seconds later, he got his stick into the feet of Martin Necas, who promptly flopped onto the ice, gaining a raised arm for a delayed penalty. Another 17 seconds elapsed, and Brock Nelson had snapped the puck behind Dobes to make it a 2-0 lead for the Avalanche on the visitors’ third shot of the game. A shift to forget, to be sure.

– Former Habs had a hand in both early goals, with Brett Kulak assisting on the first goal, and Artturi Lehkonen made the pass to Nelson on the second.

– Many observers, both journalists and fans, have expressed concern about the Habs’ ineffective power play, but the top unit’s play while Gabriel Landeskog was in the box was just plain embarrassing. Poor decisions and missed passes combined to a completely ineffective attempt at even gaining the offensive zone. The second unit was somewhat better but still…

– The penalty kill, on the other hand, has been steadily improving, and those units did their work effectively when Josh Anderson was sent off. Kirby Dach, in particular, is adapting surprisingly well to his new role. And to cap the effective kill, Phillip Danault drew a penalty at the end of it, as Landeskog was forced into hooking the veteran centre in the Colorado zone.

– I suppose we should have been happy just to see three shots on net in the ensuing power play. Hoping for a power play goal is surely not realistic.

– Finally, it was Nick Suzuki to the rescue, as Slafkovsky broke into the Colorado zone just after the midway point of the second. It didn’t look like the big Slovak had a reasonable passing option and a shot on net would be the best path, but he dropped it back and to his left to Suzuki, who had three Avalanche players converging on him. Suzuki got the puck on his stick and executed a 180-degree spin to avoid Devon Toews and Sam Malinski, and snapped a backhand shot over the shoulder of Mackenzie Blackwood in the prettiest play of the night.

– Dach rubbed shoulders with Nazem Kadri near the end of the period, and the Colorado forward tumbled to the ice in a heap. Interference, really? Nevertheless, the Canadiens handled that penalty kill, too, with aplomb, without even a shot on goal.

– The third period, though…halfway through the period, the blanc et rouge (no bleu to speak of on these hometown sweaters) still did not have a shot on goal. On the other hand, Lehkonen added a goal to his earlier assist, as he flipped his own rebound over Dobes’s pad and into the net, while Engstrom was in the sin bin for slashing and Colorado on a power play. 3-1 Avalanche, then.

– A minute past the midway point, though, the fourth line finally got the puck past Blackwood. Xhekaj did well to keep the puck inside the Colorado zone, and then Alex Newhook tipped Dach’s shot down and into the net. However, after a lengthy video review, the referees ruled that the tip was with a high stick, and the Habs were back to a two-goal deficit.

– The Habs made a furious effort in the closing minutes, with Dobes out of the net, to close the gap, but it was all for nought, as Blackwood stopped all four shots that they were able to get on net. Lane Hutson blocked a certain goal on the empty net, but finally, Nicolas Roy sealed the Avalanche victory with 13 seconds remaining on the clock.

HabsWorld Habs Three Stars

First Star: Kirby Dach (0g, 0a, 2 shots, +0, 12:37 TOI) might have had an assist to his name on the night but it was not to be. However, the fourth line played a solid game, giving up very few scoring chances and having some of their own. The much-maligned Dach deserves a star on this night, and continuing this level of play will earn him others in the future.

Second Star: Nick Suzuki (1g, 0a, 2 shots, +0, 19:57 TOI) could not quite carry the team to victory in this game, but the goal he scored was spectacular. The top line’s performance could be better than it was tonight, but that is no reflection on Suzuki’s play.

Third Star: Arber Xhekaj (0g, 0a, 0a shots, +0, 13:39 TOI) is gaining confidence and making smarter plays as he gets more ice time from head coach Martin St-Louis. Xhekaj did not record a single giveaway, and made good plays, including on the penalty kill.