National Hockey League
Montreal 4, Colorado 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, January 15, 2024
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees: Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac
Linesmen: Michel Cormier, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance: 21205

Joel Armia scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:10 remaining and the Montreal Canadiens held on for a 4-3 win against the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

Armia battled four Colorado players for possession of the puck in front of the Avalanche goal before scoring with a diving backhand.

Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist, Juraj Slafkovsky and Rafael Harvey-Pinard also scored, Nick Suzuki had two assists and Jake Allen made 32 saves for the Canadiens, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Ross Colton and Devon Toews also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for the Avalanche, who had won three in a row.

The Avalanche went on an early power play and Colton scored off a rebound of his own shot with the man advantage for a 1-0 lead at 4:28 of the first period.

The Canadiens also scored on their first power play, as Slafkovsky deposited a wrist shot past Allen to tie it 1-1 at 7:17 of the first.

Makar scored on a one-timer from inside the blue line at 1:01 of the second period to move Colorado back ahead 2-1.

It was the 75th career NHL goal for Makar, tying him with Tyson Barrie for the most in franchise history by a defenseman.

Nathan MacKinnon assisted on the goal to stretch his point streak to eight games (four goals, 10 assists).

Colorado was unable to take advantage of a 35-second five-on-three power play, and Harvey-Pinard tied it 2-2 at 16:08 of the second.

Harvey-Pinard received a pass from Jake Evans while cutting through the right circle. His initial shot was saved, but he pushed the loose puck through the pads of Georgiev for his first goal of the season.

The Canadiens moved ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal at 1:52 of the third period.

Suzuki passed the puck to Caufield at the bottom of the left circle, and Caufield turned to face the net before scoring on the far side.

Montreal scored on both of its power plays in the game.

Toews tied it 3-3 at 9:37 with a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Mikko Rantanen.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Montreal
Cale Makar 3 Points Cole Caufield 2
Cale Makar 1 Goals Cole Caufield 1
Cale Makar 2 Assists Nick Suzuki 2
Ross Colton 1 Power Play Goals Cole Caufield 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Alexandar Georgiev .882 Save Percentage Jake Allen .914
Alexandar Georgiev 30 Saves Jake Allen 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Colorado 35 3 1-4 0-2 6 27
Montreal 34 4 2-2 3-4 10 43
Upcoming Games
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .278 after a win and .520 after a loss.
  • Colorado will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .607 after a win and .688 after a loss.