Colorado couldn’t pull off a win in their second game of the road trip after a hard-fought battle in Montreal.

On the heels of news that Val Nichushkin has entered the NHL’s Player Assistance Program for an indefinite period, the already thin lineup looked paltry. Miles Wood and Artturi Lehkonen are close to returning, but they weren’t ready tonight.

As a result the top guys tried to empty the tank, but special teams weren’t special enough and goaltending allowed vulnerabilities.

Their powerplay converted on one of four chances but their ordinarily stellar kill let them down two-for-two.

Colorado earned the first powerplay opportunity early. The fourth line worked hard to bait Montreal into a penalty, so it looked promising at first.

The top unit included Ross Colton in the absence of Val Nichushkin. The Avs cycled the puck out high. Cale Makar sent the puck through the slot and Jonathan Drouin angled it on net. Colton backhanded the puck, but Jake Allen made the initial kick save. Colton collected his own rebound and sent it over Allen’s blocker-side.

Colorado struggled to clear the puck out of their own end. In a desperate attempt to defend, Sam Malinski went off for hooking Brendan Gallagher.

On the subsequent kill, Montreal set up down low and Juraj Slafkovsky posted up by the side of the net unattended. Makar and Devon Toews tried to manage Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki in the corner, but they managed to move the puck around and Suzuki got the puck to Slafkovsky at the post for him to bang in.

The Avs were hemmed in inside their own end more than we’re used to seeing in the first period. As a result, the Habs generated high shot volume. Colorado still had quality possession of their own, but it was their weakest period.

Building off some of the good puck touches in the first, the Avs came ready to work in the second. Makar sent an absurd stretch pass up ice to Mikko Rantanen at the offensive blueline.

Sam Girard’s initial shot attempt was stopped and Nathan MacKinnon retrieved the puck for Girard. This time, Girard entrusted Makar with the puck and Makar ripped a snapshot through traffic on the far-side.

Cale Makar scored the 75th goal of his NHL career and tied Tyson Barrie for the most by a defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history. Makar’s earlier assist also tied Barrie for the most 40-assist seasons by a defenseman in the organization’s history.

It was his 27th three-point performance of his NHL career

With an assist on the play, Nathan MacKinnon became the sixth active player to reach the 70-point mark in 44 games or fewer.

The Avs received two additional powerplay opportunities in the second that stacked and allowed a five-on-three chance, but they couldn’t convert. Outside of their powerplay goal in the first, they only got one shot on net during three additional man-advantages.

Late in the period, another failed exit caused them problems. A tired top line got out-worked and Rafael Harvey-Pinard got inside Josh Manson and shoved the puck in the net.

On the subject of a tired top line, Rantanen finished the night with 29:18, MacKinnon with 28:56, and Drouin with 27:09. Makar played 29:17 as well. The second goal came shortly after Rantanen and MacKinnon played 3:43 on the extended powerplay.

It’s reasonable for some fatigue to set in for the guys doing so much night in and night out.

The Avs played better hockey in the second, but the rough finish lingered.

Rantanen took a holding penalty in the opening seconds of the third period.

Suzuki dropped the puck to Caufield at the bottom of the left-circle and Caufield spun and wristed it over Alexandar Georgiev’s glove on the far-side.

Later like earlier in the game, Makar made another insane stretch pass to Rantanen. Makar fell back in search of the perfect play and waited to make his decision. Rantanen sent the cross-slot pass to Toews in the right-circle and one-timed it to the back of the net.

The moment of elation was deflated with less than five minutes to go. A rebound left the Avs scrambling for the loose puck. With Josh Manson, Andrew Cogliano, Ryan Johansen, and Girard on it, the puck trickled out of the scuffle and Joel Armia dove to bang it in with his outstretched stick.

With Georgiev pulled, they made a final push. There wasn’t more they could do with the extra skater that they didn’t try. 

Ryan Johansen won each faceoff and MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar threw the kitchen sink at Allen.

“Just kind of an average performance by us,” Toews said. “Not anything great, not anything overly bad either. Good enough to be in the game, but not one where you walk out and say you deserve to win either.

We didn’t do enough as a team to generate enough and defend hard enough tonight to walk away with a win that we are confident in. Bounces happened and they go the other way and that’s just kind of the night it was.”

It wasn’t a bad hockey game, but it was painful. It revealed how much Nichushkin adds to Colorado’s lineup and how sorely they need help inside the forward group.

Wood and Lehkonen return soon, and Wood should be an option in Ottawa tomorrow for the second leg of a back-to-back.

They’ll need him. Caleb Jones isn’t very effective as a forward for 5:23 minutes and Jason Polin might be a little outside his depth on the third line in just his fourth-ever NHL game.

Nobody’s quite at their best at the moment – including the overextended stars – because they’re not set up to succeed. They need to weather this storm until more help arrives.

Ottawa tomorrow will be a test.