Avalanche Game 71 at Montreal Canadiens: Avs Look to Keep Momentum Going; Lines, Notes & How To Watch

The Colorado Avalanche (42-25-3) look to keep rolling against the Montreal Canadiens (33-27-8) to win two of their three Canadian road games on Saturday night. The puck drops at 5:08 MT at the Bell Centre.

Eleven players notched points in the dominating 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. Brock Nelson scored his first and second goals since joining the Avs and it was a full-team effort victory at Canadian Tire Centre.

Read More: 10 Observations: Avs Chemistry Clicking at the Most Important Time

Scott Wedgewood was victorious and made big saves in the first five minutes of the game before Colorado took control to earn two points over the Sens. He is now 10-4 in 15 games played with the Avs.

“You can feel it. I don’t know how many games we have left here, 15 or something like that, but yeah we got to keep dialing it in, making sure we’re ready for playoff hockey because it’s a completely different beast,” Cale Makar said after the win over the Sens.

The Avs were firing on all cylinders and that’s the spec of a Stanley Cup contender. There was chemistry on all four lines, which is imperative to winning games.

“We were doing a lot of good things offensively, getting to the net, creating rebounds, lots of deflections, pretty good looks from the umbrella and in the slot. Have to be pretty happy with the effort, the competitiveness and execution here tonight,” head coach Jared Bednar said after the win over the Senators.

The team has gone through a metamorphosis in the last few weeks. The new players have settled in and gotten comfortable with the systems and their teammates. Colorado is a dangerous team when all four lines are on point and the offense isn’t fully dependent on the top line.

Bednar’s ability to spread out ice time is imperative to showcase this team’s depth and is beneficial down the stretch to make a deep playoff run.

Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to start against the Habs. He lost in a shootout vs Montreal on  Jan. 4 but only allowed one goal in regulation. Sam Montembeault will likely start for Montreal who lost its last game 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders.

The Habs are vying for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 74 points while the Avs sit in the No. 3 spot of the Central Division with 87 points.

Read More: Flynn’s Daily: Nelson Nets 2; Ovechkin 7 Away From Historical Record; Cats Win in OT

Season Series

• Jan. 4 vs Montreal Canadiens (OTL, 2-1)
• March 22 at Montreal Canadiens

Avalanche Injuries

• Gabriel Landeskog (knee, no timetable)
• Josh Mason (upper-body, TBD)
• Samuel Girard (upper-body injury, day-to-day)

Projected Avalanche Lines (subject to change)

Jonathan Drouin — Nathan MacKinnon — Valeri Nichushkin
Artturi Lehkonen — Brock Nelson — Martin Necas
Joel Kiviranta – Charlie Coyle — Ross Colton
Miles Wood — Jack Drury — Jimmy Vesey

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren — Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton — Erik Johnson

Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Projected Starters (subject to change)

• Unconfirmed: Mackenzie Blackwood (COL)
• Unconfirmed: Sam Montembeault (MON)

Upcoming Milestones

• Logan O’Connor — needs 2 points for 100
• Martin Necas — needs 3 assists for 200
• Brock Nelson — needs 3 goals for 300
• Erik Johnson — needs 6 goals for 100

How to Watch

• TV: Altitude TV
• Radio: 92.5 FM