Avalanche cruise past Canadiens, extend point streak to 16

DENVER -- Brock Nelson had two goals and two assists for the Colorado Avalanche, who extended their point streak to 16 games with a 7-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and an assist, and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche (18-1-6), who are 13-0-3 during the point streak.

"Guys are playing hard, they're playing well. We've been competitive and committed pretty much every time the puck drops," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "So, I would say it's been a long and good run here for us. Hopefully that can continue, but it's not easy to win in this league, for sure, and we've had our moments, but I think, like, you take the season as a whole to get to this point, with this record. It's been a really good job."

Martin Necas had three assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves.

"Trying to let in no goals as long as you can," Blackwood said. "[Stuff is] going to happen. They got two tonight, but I was happy with the way I was playing things."

Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson scored, and Jakub Dobes made 29 saves for the Canadiens (13-8-3), who had won three straight.

"Thought we had a really good start, made a couple mistakes that they made us pay for it," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "Then they get one off the face-off, and then you're kind of chasing the game a little bit, trying to do too much. Our lack of details at that point, I think trying to gain it all back in one play kind of hurt us."

Nelson gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot at 7:32 of the first period. It was his 600th career NHL point.

"I just pride myself on playing both sides and impacting the game in a number of different ways," Nelson said. "Sometimes it might not be the flashiest, but I'm trying to be responsible, and obviously you get a little bit more offense going, it stands out a bit more."

Landeskog extended the lead to 2-0 at 13:25 when Nelson's low shot toward the left post caromed off him and into the net. Montreal challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice was upheld after a video review.

Brent Burns pushed it to 3-0 just 50 seconds into the second period with a wrist shot from above the right circle.

"We felt confident coming in," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "Obviously, tough bounce on the second goal. We didn't like the call, but we go down 2-0 and then 3-0. We got to find ways to help out Dobes tonight. I mean, none of those goals are his fault. It's on us as players to be harder to play against."

Nelson made it 4-0 at 3:55, converting at the side of the net off a pass from Necas in front.

"Marty's an unbelievable player, and I feel like you kind of have to be ready a number of different times with him because he's so capable of making spin-o-ramas or a backhand," Nelson said. "He had me fooled. I was in a good spot, and he put it right on my tape for an easy one. I was thinking he was going to maybe rip it backhand, but just a great play by him sucking everybody in. I think the defender kind of thought same thing."

Demidov cut it to 4-1 with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 8:27. Juraj Slafkovsky fed him a pass from the bottom of the left circle for the shot into the open net.

"We generated a good amount in the first period but then just gave them too much off the rush," Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson said. "They have a great rush game, and (I) feel like we kind of allowed them to enter our zone too easily."

MacKinnon made it 5-1 at 19:05. He collected the rebound of Landeskog's initial shot with his left skate in the left circle, kicked it to his stick, and scored past a sprawling Dobes. It was his 20th goal of the season.

Devon Toews made it 6-1 at 2:51 of the third period. He gloved down Necas' pass at the right post, and when he tried to send it back to him at the left post, the puck went in off the stick of Matheson, who attempted to break up the play.

Hutson cut it to 6-2 at 5:10 with a power-play goal, a one-timer from above the slot.

"Felt like a lot of their chances came off the rush, and they are a really good rush team," Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. "Thought our coverage was sloppy at times and allowed them to find the seams, find guys off the rush quickly, and that was just kind of what hurt us the most tonight."

Landeskog made it 7-2 with a power-play goal at 6:52, redirecting a shot from MacKinnon.

NOTES: Burns scored his 264th goal, moving him into a tie with Nicklas Lidstrom for eighth among defensemen in NHL history. … MacKinnon required the fewest games (25) in Avalanche history to reach the 20-goal mark, surpassing the previous record of 28 games set by Mikko Rantanen in 2022-23. … MacKinnon has scored at least 20 goals in nine consecutive seasons and 11 overall, tying Milan Hejduk for the second-most in franchise history. Joe Sakic is first with 17. … MacKinnon had the 300th multipoint game of his career. … Necas has a point in all 12 Avalanche home games this season (eight goals, 14 assists).