The Colorado Avalanche won their tenth consecutive game at home with a 2-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 44 shots en route to his second shutout of the season as the Avalanche tied their franchise record for a home winning streak.
As the Avalanche led 1-0 late in the third period, a Varlamov stood tall in the face of a Montreal barrage of shots, getting in the way of all 18 shots that made their way through to him. He appeared to be laboring late in the period but fought through the fatigue of what he would later call a “very hard game” in order to secure the win.
What also helped the Avalanche secure the win was a little bit of good luck as Alexander Kerfoot, who had been benched in the second period for poor play was in the right place at the right time with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
In an attempted clear of the zone, Montreal instead gave Kerfoot the puck in front of the net by himself and he missed the open net in favor of the accidental style points as his shot was headed wide of the net and went off goaltender Antti Niemi’s right arm and into the net, making it 2-0 and all but ending the game.
The real story of the night, however, was Varlamov, whose injury opened against Winnipeg in early January opened the door for backup Jonathan Bernier to steal his job. Given Bernier was the NHL’s Second Star of the Month in January, it’s fair to say Bernier may very well be on his way to doing just that but nights like tonight remind you just how successful the Avalanche can be when ‘vintage Varly’ shows up.
A tightly contested game, the scoring did not get going until the second period when the Avalanche finally broke through. Following the teams trading penalties, a broken line change saw an almost random assortment of players on the ice but they made the best of it as Gabriel Bourque and A.J. Greer cycled the puck until Carl Soderberg picked it up behind the net and wrapped it around and beat Antti Niemi five-hole to give Colorado the 1-0 lead as they headed into the third period.
The first period featured quality scoring chances from both sides but none more so than Colin Wilson taking a perfect pass from Alexander Kerfoot and firing a shot that rang off the post after it had blistered past Niemi. The Canadiens finished with a 9-7 shot advantage in the goalless opening frame.
