MTL@COL: Game recap

DENVER – And breathe… The Canadiens defied all odds late in Saturday’s outing, tying the game with 6:35 remaining and completing the comeback in a shootout to beat the red-hot Colorado Avalanche 2-1 at Ball Arena.

Down by a goal late but pouring on the pressure, Cole Caufield accepted a feed from Nick Suzuki on a 2-on-1 and made no mistake for his 21^st of the season to tie the game and force extra time.

After five minutes of overtime solved nothing, a shootout was required. Caufield provided the Habs the advantage in the skills competition and after Jakub Dobes stopped both Avs shooters, Kirby Dach sealed the deal, sending the winner past MacKenzie Blackwood.

Dobes was excellent in his second career start, stopping 22 shots, including a series of timely saves late in regulation.

Montreal heads home with eight out of a possible 10 points from their holiday road trip.

For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Roster

Forward Patrik Laine (flu-like symptoms) and defenseman David Savard (upper body) were held out of Montreal’s lineup for a second consecutive night.

Montreal goal

P3 13:25 1-[1] Caufield (Suzuki, Hutson)

Colorado goal

P1 09:01 0-[1] MacKinnon (Rantanen, Makar) – PPG

Shootout

Caufield and Dach capitalized for the Canadiens. Suzuki was denied.

Jonathan Drouin and Mikko Rantanen were both stopped by Dobes.

What’s next

Home, alas.

The Canadiens head back to Montreal on Sunday, but there’s little time to rest. Montreal will host the Vancouver Canucks for Arber Xhekaj Bobblehead Night presented by RONA at the Bell Centre on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET. For tickets, click here.