National Hockey League
Montreal 4, Colorado 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Brad Meier
Linesmen: David Brisebois, Brian Murphy
Attendance: 21302
For the Colorado Avalanche, this one didn't go to 11.

A goal and two assists from Jonathan Drouin helped the Montreal Canadiens win 4-2 and snap Colorado's winning streak at 10 games on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.

It was the first loss since Dec. 27 for Colorado (27-17-3), which was one of the NHL's worst teams last season but had emerged as one of the hottest in 2018. The Canadiens (20-22-6), who have struggled versus Western Conference teams all season, got 20 saves from Carey Price in the win.

Jonathan Bernier turned in a 36-save performance for the Avalanche, who got a third period goals from MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon and from J.T. Compher in the final seconds to deny Price the shutout. It was the team-leading 24th goal of the season for MacKinnon.

After a scoreless first period, Alex Galchenyuk's pass helped set up Nicholas Deslauriers to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. Barely two minutes later, a Paul Byron pass set up Galchenyuk's 12th goal of the season, which established a two-goal Canadiens lead after 40 minutes.

Drouin, who assisted on both of the second period goals, scored the eventual game-winner a little more than 12 minutes into the third for a 3-0 Montreal lead. MacKinnon's goal off a pass from defenseman Erik Johnson made it 3-1, but Brendan Gallagher's unassisted goal with under two minutes to play made it 4-1 for the home team.

Compher capped the scoring with 12 seconds left on the clock. Colorado had not lost since dropping a 3-1 home decision to the Arizona Coyotes in their first game after the league-mandated break over the holidays.

For the Canadiens, it was just their seventh win versus a Western Conference team in 22 meetings. The Avalanche visit St. Louis on Thursday, while the Canadiens host Carolina on Thursday.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Montreal
J.T. Compher 1 Points Jonathan Drouin 3
J.T. Compher 1 Goals Jonathan Drouin 1
Erik Johnson 1 Assists Jonathan Drouin 2
N/A Power Play Goals Alex Galchenyuk 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jonathan Bernier .923 Save Percentage Carey Price .909
Jonathan Bernier 36 Saves Carey Price 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Colorado 22 2 0-4 3-4 8 20
Montreal 40 4 1-4 4-4 8 32
Upcoming Games
  • Montreal will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .357 after a loss.
  • Colorado will play their next game on the road against St. Louis. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .579 after a loss.