Ten wins in a row, 3-0-1 in the past four on the road ... where will it end?
The Avalanche play in Montreal on Tuesday following a 4-2 win in Toronto on Monday, so this is their first back-to-back set since Dec. 11-12 when they won in Pittsburgh the first night and lost in Washington the second night.
The 5-2 loss to the Capitals in that game is the Avalanche's only regulation loss in their past seven road games (5-1-1).
Here are the
GAME NOTES.
Jonathan Bernier will start, as he should, despite a 1-9-3 career record against the Canadiens. Coach
Jared Bednar made it official a couple hours before game time.
Bernier had 29 saves against the Maple Leafs and has won nine in a row while allowing 13 goals for a 1.53 goals-against average and .955 save percentage.
Bernier played both games of a back-to-back Nov. 24-25 at Minnesota and home against Calgary when
Semyon Varlamov was ill. He made 25 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Wild and 25 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Flames.
The Avalanche have outscored teams 41-16 during the 10-game streak, the second-longest in franchise history behind the 12-game streak from Jan. 10-Feb. 7, 1999.
They scored the first goal in all 10 games and trailed for the first time Monday -- for 94 seconds before
Nail Yakupov scored to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. It was his first goal in 10 games.
Nathan MacKinnon was held without a point, ending his streak at nine games, but the Avalanche also got goals from
Gabriel Bourque and
Blake Comeau before
Gabriel Landeskog scored into an empty net.
"That's another good indication of one of the things I liked about this game," Bednar told reporters. "(The MacKinnon line) might not have had the best night offensively, but we still found a way with our other lines to get the job done and get secondary scoring."
The Avalanche didn't have any power plays (they had one Saturday against the New York Rangers), and they killed all three Leafs power plays, including a 5-on-3.
Bednar said after the game that
Sven Andrighetto (leg) and Tyson Barrie (hand), both of whom are on the trip, wouldn't play against the Canadiens.
The expected lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Dominic Toninato -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nail Yakupov
Gabriel Bourque -- Tyson Jost -- J.T. Compher
DEFENSE
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Mark Barberio
Samuel Girard -- Anton Lindholm
GOALIES
Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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