Avalanche Game 44 Recap: C'est du Hockey

The second leg of the Colorado Avalanche's five-game Eastern road swing sees the team head to Montréal to face off against Les Habitants, the Canadiens. It's amazing. This used to be a provincial rivalry, as the old Quebec Nordiques battled hard against the Canadiens for sixteen seasons before the Nords moved to Denver. Even so, the teams still have a crazy connection, mainly because the Avs have taken some notable names from the Habs, and won Cups with them.

The Avs are coming off that big comeback win in Toronto; scoring five unanswered after a 3-0 deficit. For this game, Alexandar Georgiev was in net against Jake Allen, and the Avs were in control early. Colorado received the first power play and it was successful. Ross Colton made it 1-0 and the assists came from Cale Makar and Jonathan Drouin. Speaking of Drouin, a video tribute was played for his years with the Habs, who later tied it up with a power play goal of their own. The goal was scored by Juraj Slafkovsky, the #1 overall pick from the 2022 Draft. Still surprised that he was the pick; I still remember that Shane Wright was supposed to be that top pick. Methinks Les Habitants knew that Wright would be a bust.

It was un to un (1-1) after the first period, but deux for the Avs would come just 61 seconds into the second period. Cale Makar gave the Avs the lead back, with the helpers coming from Samuel Girard and Nathan MacKinnon. That's point #70 for MacKinnon, moving him two points behind Nikita Kucherov, whose Tampa Bay Lightning were off on that day. The Avs had their chances in the middle frame; a power play turning into a five-on-three, but all of it was killed. Even so, it looked like Colorado would make it 3-1, but Rafael Harvey-Pinard's first goal of the season ended up tying the game.

So after 40 minutes, it was deux to deux, but the Habs would get trois early in the third. A power play goal from Cole Caufield. Now the Avs had to play from behind, but at least it's one goal instead of three. The Avs would get the equalizer in the middle of the period. Devon Toews scored, and the assists came from Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar, giving Makar three points for the evening. So the Avs were looking to pull ahead, as were the Habs. Unfortunately for the road team, the home team struck, and it was Joel Armia bringing the Habs' goal total to quatre. Avs pulled Georgiev for the extra attacker, some very close calls, but the door was shut by Jake Allen.

The Avs were defeated 4-3, but there's something else to talk about.

So for the second time this season, an Avs player is entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program. It was Samuel Girard back in November, and now it's Valeri Nichushkin. Val's in the midst of a career year this season; in fact, ever since he went to the Avs, he has become quite the clutch scorer--which included scoring four goals in the 2022 Cup Final. Part of me wonders if Val placing himself into the program has something to do with his strange absence from last year's playoffs. In any event, I hope for the best for Val during his time away.

The Avalanche are playing a back-to-back set, as we'll be back in action in Ottawa against the Senators, which will finish the season series. This will also complete the Canadian portion of the road trip, as it will be followed by trips to Boston and Philadelphia.

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