Colorado drops their game against the Habs on January 4, 2-1 in a shootout after an absolute heart breaker of a finish. In what turned out to be a low scoring affair, turned into a showcase for Montreal’s goaltender Jakob Dobes who was playing in just his second NHL game. Dobes stopped 22 of 23 shots in the game, picking up the win and grabbing two points on the road. Dobes also faced adversity after being run over not once but twice throughout the course of the game, first by Colorado’s Ross Colton and again in overtime by Artturi Lehkonen.

The end of the third and the entirety of overtime was a series of highs and lows for both teams as at the end of the third, Montreal’s Kaiden Guhle sprang loose from the penalty box and had himself a breakaway and almost iced the game if not for Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood robbing him to keep the game tied. During overtime, while Lehkonen was serving his minor penalty for running over Jakub Dobes, Montreal set up multiple chances to finish the game with the man advantage, with Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kirby Dach all getting several one timer opportunities but all were broken up or stopped by Blackwood. After the penalty expired, Lehkonen jumped out of the box just as Colorado cleared the puck out of the zone giving giving him a breakaway opportunity of his own, but that chance was stopped by Dobes.

Despite the two collisions, Dobes finished the game and stopped both shots faced in the shootout, denying Jonathan Drouin and Mikko Rantanen.Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach both scored for the Habs and won the game and handed the Avs their first loss of the season in either overtime or the shootout.

This game was a hard loss for the Avs and while Montreal heads home feeling good, Colorado needs to shake it off and look ahead to their next challenge hoping to get back in the win column at home on Monday January 6, against the Florida Panthers.

Key Players:

Colorado:

Mikko Rantanen: 1G

Nathan Mackinnon: 1A

Cale Makar: 1A

Mackenzie Blackwood: 23SV, .958SV%

Montreal:

Cole Caufield: 1G

Lane Hutson: 1A

Nick Suzuki: 1A

Jakub Dobes: 1W, 22SV, .957SV%