Montreal Canadiens (8-25-6, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. Colorado Avalanche (27-8-3, first in the Central)
Denver; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Colorado seeks to build upon its five-game win streak with a victory over Montreal.
The Avalanche have gone 16-2-1 in home games. Colorado leads the NHL shooting 12.0% and averaging 4.2 goals on 34.8 shots per game.
The Canadiens have gone 3-15-5 away from home. Montreal is last in the Eastern Conference averaging only 5.9 points per game. Tyler Toffoli leads the team with 20 total points.
In their last meeting on Dec. 2, Colorado won 4-1. Valeri Nichushkin recorded a team-high 2 points for the Avalanche.
TOP PERFORMERS: Devon Toews leads the Avalanche with a plus-33 in 27 games this season. Nathan MacKinnon has nine assists over the last 10 games for Colorado.
Nicholas Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 22 points, scoring seven goals and adding 15 assists. Michael Pezzetta has three goals and one assist over the last 10 games for Montreal.
LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 9-0-1, averaging 4.1 goals, 7.1 assists, 4.7 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game with a .926 save percentage.
Canadiens: 2-5-3, averaging 2.3 goals, 3.6 assists, 5.3 penalties and 13.6 penalty minutes while allowing four goals per game with an .898 save percentage.
INJURIES: Avalanche: Bowen Byram: out (personal), Valeri Nichushkin: out (covid-19), Darren Helm: day to day (lower body), Ryan Murray: day to day (upper body).
Canadiens: Joel Armia: out (health and safety protocols), Rafael Harvey-Pinard: out (health protocols), Louie Belpedio: out (covid-19), Gianni Fairbrother: out (covid-19), Cole Caufield: out (health and safety protocols), Jake Allen: day to day (undisclosed).
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