In Denver, if you did not take a seat by the 15 minute mark of the game, you missed all that was ever going to happen in the Avalanche;s 2-1 loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens. 
Martin St Louis returned to the Montreal bench after a leave of absence.
“We played for him,” Montreal’s Nick Suzuki said. “He’s been through a lot over the last 10 days, and he was excited to come back. It’s obviously great to have him back. We missed him. We were trying to do the job while he was away, and [he] definitely gave us a bit of energy coming back.”
Sam Montembeault made 27 saves in the Canadiens win.
The loss snapped a nine-game streak the Avs were riding.
“You have to respect every team in this league,” Colorado’s Cale Makar said. “Even my dad was telling me like how good they’ve been lately just in terms of just work ethic. So, we’re always prepared going into games. It’s not like we’re underestimating teams.”
Montreal moved to 27-32-12.
“I think it’s a good testament to our character in this room. To go down early like that [stinks],” Montreal’s Alex Newhook said. “But I thought we did a good job to answer. ‘Suzy’ coming back and scoring one right away was huge for us. I think it kind of lifted us up there, and then [we] played a pretty solid game I think for the rest of the game. To keep those guys to one goal is pretty good in my book.”
Nathan MacKinnon scored with 43 seconds gone on the game clock for a 1-0 lead to the Avalanche. He scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
Colorado dropped to 46-21-5.
“It’s frustrating because we didn’t check hard enough in the first period, you know? So tonight, we don’t outscore our mistakes,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Their goalie played well, and we missed on some really good opportunities, and we don’t get the equalizer. We had to fight the whole game to try and get it. Couldn’t get it, and so every time you lose, it’s frustrating, but it is what it is. We got to take it, learn from it, and move on.”
Suzuki tied the game, 1-1, nine seconds after the MacKinnon goal. scoring off an uncontested rush to the net.
“We raise our game against good competition. I think it really forces guys to be dialed in,” Suzuki said. “If we’re not dialed in all night, they’re going to pick us apart. It was a great performance by everyone, and it was a huge win for us.”
Joel Armia hit for the game winning goal at 14:53 of the first, scoring after collecting a loose puck. 
Justus Annunen made 25 saves. in the loss.
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