Avalanche embrace Christmas spirit of giving in 10-1 loss

HIGHLIGHTS

GAME RUNDOWN

That’s how the game started for the Colorado Avalanche tonight on the road against the Montreal Canadiens. They were down 6-0 until a Nikita Zadorov shot from the point was deflected by Blake Comeau and into the net to make it 6-1 and ruin Carey Price’s bid for a shutout. It was literally the only thing that went wrong for Montreal.

One of the few players not to register a point for the Canadiens in the first period was Alexander Radulov and a lazy defensive play by Zadorov led to a Max Pacioretty steal and he found Radulov in front of the net to make it 7-1. The two would swap roles late in the period as Radulov found Pacioretty to make it 8-1 and give Pacioretty the hat trick.

The Habs made it 9-1 with 0.1 seconds left in the period on a Jeff Petry power play goal.

In the third period, Pacioretty scored his fourth of the night after Calvin Pickard thought he had covered the puck. He did not and Pacioretty made it 10-1.

THREE STARS

1. Max Pacioretty
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Brian Flynn

PLAY OF THE GAME

Comeau’s goal was pretty cool. It beat Price, which rarely happens, so let’s go with that.

TURNING POINT

Puck drop in the first period. By the halfway mark in the first period, Montreal was leading 5-0.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT’S NEXT

Colorado finishes their four-game road trip tomorrow evening in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.