MONTREAL, QC — What’s a little Saturday night shootout without some drama?

Up 4-1, the Colorado Avalanche managed to hang on against the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in the shootout. The Habs fought back and rolled – like an Avalanche – and almost snagged both points away from the Avs.

Colorado did enough to grind out the win in a gritty way against a gritty and hard-fighting team. This game had plenty of implications for both sides in Stanley Cup Playoff standing, and without affecting one another, they helped each other out by getting at least one point each.

First Period

Colorado started putting the pressure on Montreal from the get-go. Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood connected on a 2-on-1 but couldn’t wrap his stick around it to score. Cale Makar followed suit with a slapshot off the bar.

They had the shots advantage 9-2 at the first TV timeout and eventually broke through. Sam Malinski continued his hot stretch with a bullet to open the scoring.

He was not the only depth defender to find the net, however. Brock Nelson’s silky drop pass found a wide-open Ryan Lindgren who couldn’t miss.

Both goaltenders got in on the fun as well. On a Ross Colton slashing penalty, Cole Caufield had a great look denied by Mackenzie Blackwood’s pad almost right on the goal line. At the other end, Sam Montembault robbed a nice linkup play by Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin with his stick on the goal line in the final minute. It kept his team relatively close going into the room only down two and being outshot 16-6.

Second Period

The middle frame was full of action and drama. It all started with a big brawl between Keaton Middleton and Arber Xhekaj, with the latter of the two taking the win.

Makar found the post for a second time and his defensive partner Devon Toews found it later on too. But it wouldn’t stop the Avs on a penalty for too many men on the ice. MacKinnon found Jonathan Drouin cross-ice, who led it back to Martin Necas in front to finish a perfect tic-tac-toe play.

Just moments later, however, Montreal answered. Jayden Struble’s shot from the point would be deflected by Juraj Slafkovsky in front to finally beat Blackwood.

Slafkovsky nearly had another with Blackwood down and out but missed the open top corner. It would’ve made things even more interesting as penalties filled up the period.

Colorado and Montreal combined for nine penalties in the second period. Wood tripped up Patrik Laine after the big fight, but it was just the start. The majority of the penalties came in a big scrum involving Colton, Coyle, and Struble. Coyle’s crosscheck to the face of Struble might also mean a call from the Department of Player Safety on Sunday.

That should probably be a call from DOPS for Charlie Coyle for cross checking Jayden Struble square in the face

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) 2025-03-23T00:41:59.874Z

Toews had a hooking penalty moments after play resumed, creating a 5-on-3 for over a minute. But the Avs did brilliantly to kill it all off. MacKinnon and Mike Matheson traded more penalties in the final minute but it still remained a 3-1 scoreline for Colorado.

Third Period

Colorado continued to look great early on. Toews’ shot found the stick of Nelson in front, which he was able to deflect by Montembault to extend the lead to three.

But little did the Avs know the goal woke up the Habs. Joshua Roy started the comeback when he was able to poke a rebound by Blackwood and in to make it a two-goal game.

Just 30 seconds later, Slafkovsky really got the home crowd going. He ripped one home from the slot on a rush into the zone. Just like that, it was 4-3.

All momentum was on Montreal’s side. They hit two crossbars just separated seconds apart with one of them coming from Caufield over a sprawling Blackwood.

They continued to push before they finally broke through for the equalizer. Christian Dvorak lifted his backhander over the shoulder of the netminder to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

The Habs continued to throttle the Avalanche, who were rattled to their core. But both teams were kept out of the net, specifically with the visitors just doing enough to get a point and take it to overtime.

Overtime

Overtime continued with the dramatics of the third. Alex Newhook nearly had poetic justice with an overtime winner but it was fought off by Blackwood. At the other end, Montembault’s glove snatched Drouin’s shot in front.

The Avalanche had a golden opportunity when Slafkovsky held Makar. But the Avs could not convert and hence, Montreal was able to push it to the shootout.

Shootout

Round 1:

Cole Caufield: He sent his wrister wide of the net.

Charlie Coyle: A backhand flip over the blocker of Montembault to score. (1-0)

Round 2:

Nick Suzuki: He tried to wait out Blackwood but got he got his back foot on it.

Valeri Nichushkin: He sent his wrister wide of the net.

Round 3:

Patrik Laine: A beautiful backhand scored off the bar and in over Blackwood. (1-1)

Nathan MacKinnon: His shot was saved by the pad/glove of Montembault.

Round 4:

Christian Dvorak: The Forsberg move was stopped by Blackwood.

Brock Nelson: Scored with his wrister over the pad and below the glove. Colorado escapes with two points! (2-1)

Observations from the Mountaintop

Now that was a phenomenal hockey game – for the neutral. Colorado will certainly not like giving up three goals in the third and holding on for dear life in the final 10-plus minutes. They were not ready for the Montreal comeback and what came with it – the ferocity of the players and rambunctiousness of the crowd shook them. It was really boiled up from the second period filled with penalties and pent-up frustration from the home side. Despite not converting in overtime, Colorado fought back in the shootout to get the massive extra point.

Before the comeback was on, there was plenty to love for the Avs. The depth and trade-deadline acquisitions once again played a huge part. Malinski continues to shine in his post-trade deadline redemption tour with another goal and his fifth point in six games. Lindgren followed suit with his goal right afterward. Coyle, interestingly, led the shootout by going first and scoring. Finally, Nelson scored not only another goal but the game-winner in the shootout. For the latter of those players, he finally looks to be adapting and showing his stuff in his eighth game.

You know the drill: standings watch! Colorado nearly dropped not just one but two points which would’ve really hurt their chase for home-ice advantage in the first round. With a Dallas Stars overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday afternoon, they moved to 92 points. Colorado remains three points back with their own win beyond regulation, sitting on 89. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild won their own game Saturday afternoon over the struggling Buffalo Sabres to move up to 85 points. The Avs have a semi-comfortable four-point advantage over the Wild for third in the Central Division but still need help to catch Dallas. Colorado has played more games (71 GP) than both Dallas (69 GP) and Minnesota (70 GP), however.

Next Game

Colorado comes home for a four-game homestand. They’ll face their old foe Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. MT.