NHL

Montreal Canadiens at Colorado Avalanche

· National Hockey League
Final
2 - 1

Dach, Caufield score in shootout to lift the Canadiens 2-1 over the Avalanche

Kirby Dach wins it for the Canadians in shootout

Caufield had the regulation goal for Montreal, which wrapped up its road trip with a 4-2 mark.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves but could only stop one of three Canadiens in the shootout. Colorado had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped.

Mikko Rantanen scored his 23rd of the season at 9:01 of the first. Montreal got the equalizer from Caufield with 6:35 remaining on an odd-man rush with Nick Suzuki.

Both teams had breakaway chances in the overtime. Blackwood stopped Kaiden Guhle’s shot in the first minute and Dobes denied Artturi Lehkonen in the final minutes.

Takeaways Canadiens: Montreal had a happy flight home after their season-long road trip despite playing the second game of a back to back. They are in the midst of playing 11 of 15 games away from home.

Avalanche: Blackwood is expected to carry a heavy load while Scott Wedgewood is out with an injury to his right leg. Trent Miner will play occasionally but Blackwood is expected to get the bulk of starts.

Key moment The Canadiens got an odd-man rush midway through the third period and Emil Heineman passed the puck through the slot to Jake Evans skating down the left side. Blackwood slid over in time to stop the wrister and keep Montreal off the board.

Key stat Rantanen extended his points streak to 13 games and has 57 points, which has him in the top three in scoring in the NHL.

Up next The Canadiens return to Montreal for a game against Vancouver on Monday night. The Avalanche wrap up a four-game homestand against Florida on Monday night.

Regular Season Series

MTL leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 9:01 Mikko Rantanen Goal (23) Deflected, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (51), Cale Makar (36)
Goal 3rd Period 13:25 Cole Caufield Goal (21) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (27), Lane Hutson (25)
Goal 5 0:00 Cole Caufield Goal Wrist Shot
Goal 5 0:00 Kirby Dach Goal Snap Shot

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/col.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCOL
20 Blocked Shots 17
29 Hits 17
2 Takeaways 2
23 Shots 23
0 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 5
0.0 Power Play Percentage 20.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
26 Faceoffs Won 22
54.2 Faceoff Win Percent 45.8
26 Giveaways 17
6 Total Penalties 4
12 Penalty Minutes 8

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,087 | Capacity:

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Toronto 27 13 56 2
Florida 24 15 50 2
Boston 20 18 45 5
Tampa Bay 21 15 44 2
Ottawa 19 17 41 3
Montreal 19 18 41 3
Detroit 18 18 40 4
Buffalo 15 21 35 5

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 28 12 58 2
Minnesota 26 11 56 4
Dallas 25 13 51 1
Colorado 25 15 51 1
St. Louis 19 19 42 4
Utah 17 15 41 7
Nashville 13 21 33 7
Chicago 13 25 28 2
Full Standings