CANADIENS
Montreal

4-3

AVALANCHE
Colorado

Game Notes:

Summary.  It was a fast, entertaining first period of hockey in Denver. The Canadiens scored first as the Lars Eller line dominated a long shift just before Jiri Sekac snapped it through a screen. It looked as if Montreal would come out of the first period with a lead but with only 33 seconds left, Mike Weaver was stripped of the puck by Danny Briere who scored to tie it.

After giving up a goal in the last minute of the first period, the Canadiens handed the Avalanche the lead in the first minute of the second. A few minutes later it was Lars Eller driving to the net who drew the Avalanche penalty.  On the subsequent power-play, Andrei Markov scored sliding down from the point on a beautiful feed from Alex Galchenyuk. The Canadiens went on to outshoot Colorado 18-9 in the second with the score tied 3-3 at the end of 40 minutes.

In the third period, Max Pacioretty snapped the game-winner past Calvin Pickard with Dale Weise providing the decoy. Carey Price made several game-saving saves with Colorado pressing for the tie in the third.

Leaders lead. With the bench shortened, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov were huge workhorses in this game. Combined they played 55 minutes, and each had a goal and an assist.

Changing of the guard. Lars Eller had another strong game with six shots on goal (tied for the team lead with Max Pacioretty), nine in total directed at the net. Eller had an assist and was 63 per cent at the faceoff dot, tops on the team. Eller showed skill, was physical and forechecked tenaciously. Surprisingly, Lars received almost a minute of power-play time.

Sit here and don’t move.  After Mike Weaver‘s ill-considered pinch yielded a 4-on-1 rush and a tying goal for Colorado in the second period, the defenseman did not see the ice. It was Weaver’s second error of the game that led to a goal and coach Therrien had seen enough. From that point on, the Canadiens essentially went with four defensemen with Tom Gilbert receiving spot duty.

Tough love. It’s clear that David Desharnais has lost his game. He had no shots towards the goal in this game, he continued to make poor decisions, his skating is suspect and he loses the puck too easily. Michel Therrien ratcheted down Desharnais’ ice-time a notch, but he certainly isn’t earning even the 15 minutes he was allotted on Monday night. The power-play time given to Desharnais and P.A. Parenteau should be given to Lars Eller and Jiri Sekac who are gelling right now and would form a formidable line with Max Pacioretty.

Plus / Minus

▲   Lars Eller, Max Pacioretty, Carey Price, Andrei Markov, P.K. Subban, Manny Malhotra, Jiri Sekac

▼   Mike Weaver, David Desharnais, P.A. Parenteau

1.  Max Pacioretty  MTL
2.  Andrei Markov  MTL
3.  Tyson Barrie  COL

• “That was a great performance [by our leaders]. Pacioretty scored a big goal in the third period. We gave him good opportunities, but I liked the way he created his own chances with his intensity and his relentless puck pursuit.”
• “P.K. had a great game, too. He and Andrei Markov have a lot of responsibility. [Sergei] Gonchar and [Alexei] Emelin, too. Those four guys had a big job tonight and they responded really well.”

P.K. Subban

• “What makes our team good is whether we’re up one or down one, we don’t panic. You can’t get too high or too low. [Pacioretty] stepped up and scored a big goal, and that’s what we needed.”

Max Pacioretty

• “I think that’s got to be a team stat as well. I think most of our team’s goals come in the third as well. It is what it is. I think the way we play, we want to grind down teams, play simple and wait for our chances. And I think the more we do that, the more you catch teams slipping a little bit as the game goes on.”

Avalanche coach Patrick Roy

• “I don’t want to single out guys, but on the last play [Johnson] pinched, [MacKinnon] knew he was there and he should have taken over for the D. I could name plenty other [similar situations]. You can’t lose games like this at the end of the game. Our game management needs to be a lot better. Our guys know that if the D pinch, they have to be there for them, they have to take over as a defenseman.”
• “We gave up three 2-on-1s in that sequence. Yes, we want to be an offensive team. Yes, we want to go, but we have to think a little better. And some of our guys on the top two lines didn’t perform at the level we need to win the hockey game.”