INSTANT REACTION: Avs drop all four points in back-to-back series, 7-3 loss to Montreal Canadiens

You’d think the Avs, after what was virtually a zero-effort performance against the Ottawa Senators last night, would come into tonight’s game with a little more jump, right?

WRONG. That would be wishful thinking. That would require the Avs to have their head in a win-now mentality as opposed to checking out with three games to go until the Olympic break, which, based on this back-to-back series, is certainly not the case.

Avs take zero points out of this back-to-back road series, capping it off with a loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Scott Wedgewood got his first start since January 21st – and since the birth of his second child – and laid an egg. Not his best game this season, by far. Rebound control was virtually nonexistent, a few missed reads both behind the net and on the post… just simply not good enough.

Other thing of note: Taylor Makar is the healthy scratch, Ross Colton returns to the lineup.

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Montreal gets things going with the first goal of the night, less than a minute into the initial puck drop. Montreal wins the faceoff, and Noah Dobson capitalizes on a slow-moving Scott Wedgewood.

Brock Nelson responds three minutes later, but the effort to tie things up is fruitless as they give up a goal two minutes later to Nick Suzuki on the power play.

To make things even worse, Suzuki also capitalizes on a shorthanded opportunity, taking Montreal into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead.

Jake Evans makes it 4-1 off an egregiously bad misread behind the net by Scott Wedgewood (if you’re a goaltender…).

Kirby Dach scores from behind the goal line after Wedgewood fails to seal the near-side post. 5-1.

Joel Kiviranta attempts to give the Avs life with an untimely goal, but ultimately, they go into the third period in the same position they ended the first period in: down two goals. 5-3 to end the second period.

Ross Colton scores, but it isn’t enough as Alexandre Carrier and Juraj Slafkovsky tack two more on to make it a 7-3 final in Montreal.

Takeaway #1: Ross Colton scored

Woohoo. This was really the only bright spot in this game for me.

Back in the lineup and back on the scoresheet 🚨 pic.twitter.com/fS7GTzWo68

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 30, 2026

Ross Colton has not scored a goal since November 26th, when the Avs hosted the San Jose Sharks.

Colton came out of the lineup on 1/23 with a lower-body injury, and this was his first game back in the lineup since then. Before coming out of the lineup, he didn’t look bad, per se. In fact, he had a few opportunities in the games leading up to his injury, but he did look like he was playing through whatever took him out of the lineup.

Takeaway #2: the game ended

That’s it. Throw it in the trash and maybe try to put in a little more effort across your entire lineup in Detroit on Saturday.

Avs postgame pod