Brock Nelson has 4 points as surging Avs beat Canadiens 7-2

DENVER (AP) — Brock Nelson had two goals and two assists to reach 600 points for his career, Gabriel Landeskog also scored twice, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 on Saturday.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists for Colorado to extend his NHL points lead to 44. He is also tied for the league lead in goals with Boston’s Morgan Geekie, both with 20.

Colorado, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped with a shootout loss at Minnesota on Friday, has a 16-game point streak (13-0-3). The Avalanche have won eight in a row at home and have just one regulation loss in 25 games (18-1-6).

Brent Burns and Devon Toews also had goals for Colorado.

Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson scored for Montreal, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Nelson got his milestone point when he beat Jakub Dobes with a wrister 7:32 into the game. He assisted on Landeskog’s first goal and Burns’ goal 50 seconds into the second before making it 4-0 at 3:55 of the second period.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves but fell short of his bid for a third consecutive shutout when Demidov scored at 8:27 of the second period. That ended a shutout streak of 174 minutes, 31 seconds.

Blackwood made several great saves early, including one with his left pad to deny Josh Anderson midway through the first period.

Dobes stopped 29 shots.

Nelson was initially awarded Colorado’s second goal but it was later given to Landeskog, who was upended by Anderson as they battled in the crease.

The Canadiens challenged for goaltender interference but it was ruled that Anderson’s actions caused the interference.

Colorado donned blue Quebec jerseys to commemorate the Nordiques’ Adams Division rivalry with Montreal. The Avalanche are celebrating their 30th season since relocating from Quebec to Denver.

Up next

Canadiens: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Avalanche: Host Vancouver on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl