Colorado still had several players under the weather and since the club had a good practice the previous day, the coaches decided to have an optional morning skate. Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene, two players that were ill and missed Wednesday's practice, took part in the skate, while Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon stayed at the hotel to get a few more hours of rest in order to be healthy by game time.
Following the practice and brief workout, the majority of the team hopped back on the bus and got to the hotel at 12:30 p.m., where it would eat its pre-game meal and grab a nap before heading back to the rink. The first bus left at 4 p.m. while the second one departed at 4:30 p.m.
While Landeskog wasn't in the lineup as he also continued to rehab from a lower-body injury, the other three sick players felt good enough to play. Duchene and MacKinnon even scored the first two goals of the game as the Avalanche defeated the Bruins 4-2 to extend their unbeaten streak in Boston to 10-0-1 in its last 11 contests.
Just 45 minutes after the final siren at 9:29 p.m., Colorado was all packed up and heading to the airport for a quick flight to Montreal.
The flight was just 40 minutes long, and the team arrived in Quebec's largest city at 12:13 a.m. The Avs were at their downtown hotel before 1 a.m., where they turned in for the night feeling good about getting the win and ready to improve upon it against the Canadiens.
