Canadiens again fall victim to OT curse in 3-2 loss to Avalanche

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It was the 15th consecutive home win for Colorado, while Montreal fell to 0-7 in overtime.

Gabriel Landeskog scored at 1:16 of overtime to give the Avalanche a 3-2 win over the Canadiens on Saturday at Ball Arena.

It was the 15th consecutive home win for Colorado, while Montreal fell to 0-7 in overtime, although they have one win in their lone shootout.

Rookie goaltender Cayden Primeau weathered a first-period storm and gave the Canadiens a chance to win. He made 43 saves and limited the Avalanche to two power-play goals in regulation.

Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal at 8:06 of the third period to tie the score. Christian Dvorak slid the puck across the crease and Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper was unable to move across in time to prevent Suzuki from scoring his eighth goal of the season.

Artturi Lehkonen kept the Canadiens in contention when he took a pass from Suzuki on a 2-on-1 breakaway and slid it under Kuemper’s pads late in the second period to cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Lehkonen filled in for the injured Jonathan Drouin on the top line with Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli, and had two good scoring chances in the first period, but couldn’t finish.

Toffoli started the breakaway with a tape-to-tape saucer pass to Suzuki. Toffoli has two goals and two assists in the three games since he returned after hand surgery sidelined him for 11 games.

Primeau had the unenviable task of facing the No. 1 offence in the NHL after Sam Montembeault was scratched with what was described as a minor injury.

The Avalanche wasted no time testing the rookie netminder as they fired 23 shots on goal in the first period and took a 1-0 lead when rookie Alex Newhook scored during a power play midway through the first period on a feed from Sam Girard.

The 23-year-old defenceman played a key role in the Avalanche’s second power-play goal midway through the second period. Girard took the puck behind the net and showed great patience while Valeri Nichushkin found an opening in the slot.

Girard thought he had another assist when Nazem Kadri scored early in the third period, but Dominique Ducharme challenged the goal for an offside violation and the video review showed Kadri entered the zone before the puck. The situation room has not been kind to the Canadiens this season, but the last three reviews have gone Montreal’s way.

While the Canadiens have been welcoming injured players back over the past two weeks, they suffered another setback when Drouin suffered an upper-body injury midway through the third period of Thursday’s overtime loss in Las Vegas. The extent of Drouin’s injury is unknown, but it’s serious enough he has been placed on the injured reserve list and that means he will miss at least a week.

Montreal will wrap up what has become a 10-game road trip Monday when they play the Minnesota Wild (8 p.m., Sportsnet, RDS, TSN-690, 98,5 FM). They are scheduled  to return to the Bell Centre on Thursday for a visit from the Anaheim Ducks and the Canadiens are still awaiting word on whether the Quebec government will ease the current COVID restrictions and allow fans in the building.

phickey@postmedia.com

twitter.com/zababes1

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