Montreal Canadiens' Alexandre Carrier (45) scores on Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
MONTREAL (AP) — Nick Suzuki scored power-play and short-handed goals and added an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the struggling Colorado Avalanche 7-3 on Thursday night.
The NHL-leading Avalanche have lost six of eight to fall to 35-8-9.
Noah Dobson opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the game. Jake Evans and Kirby Dach scored in a 40-second span late in the second period. Dach had his first first goal and point since returning from a 31-game absence Jan. 20.
Alexandre Carrier and Juraj Slafkovsky scored in the third period, and Jakub Dobes made 26 saves to improved to 7-0-1 in his last eight starts.
Brock Nelson, Joel Kiviranta and Ross Colton scored for Colorado. Scott Wedgewood stopped 21 shots.
The Avalanche wore powder blue Quebec Nordiques jerseys in homage to the team’s former home of Quebec City.
Montreal Canadiens' Jake Evans (71) beats Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) behind the net to score during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) loses his stick as he is scored on by Colorado Avalanche's Joel Kiviranta during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens' Nick Suzuki scores on Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) as Avalanche's Cale Makar (8) skates in during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes, right, is congratulated on a win over the Colorado Avalanche by fellow goaltender Samuel Montembeault (35) after NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to our policies
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
