Montreal Canadiens loss to Colorado Avalanche, Digi Mart USA News (Montreal): The Montreal Canadiens lost 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, ending a 12-game point streak that had carried them to a 9-0-3 record. The loss followed a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins just two days earlier, a result the team itself considered flawed.
Captain Nick Suzuki scored Montreal’s only goal. Suzuki said the team was tighter through the neutral zone than in the previous game, limiting Colorado to 29 controlled entries after Boston had recorded 56 in Thursday’s contest.
Colorado was missing Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who were out for this game and several others in the coming weeks.
Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes allowed an early goal when a shot from Fedor Svechkov deflected off defenceman Adam Engstrom’s skate and into the net at 3:57 of the first period. Dobes said the shot was unfortunate, while the report described his positioning on that play as a concern.
Artturi Lehkonen later scored for Colorado, and an empty-net goal sealed the result.
Coach Martin St. Louis said he was not unhappy with the team’s intentions but felt offensive execution was lacking and the team struggled to score.
The Canadiens also took penalties, including to Josh Anderson and Adam Engstrom, and the power play, which went scoreless on both chances, ranks 31st in the NHL.
