Iginla scores twice to give Canadiens another loss
Jarome Iginla’s second goal of the game snapped a 2-2 tie and propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Canadiens Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche had an odd man rush after P.K. Subban lost his footing while being checked by Mikhail Grigorenko. The Canadiens played with an intensity that was missing in their losses to Buffalo and Arizona in the first two games of this road trip, but the result was the same as they went 0-for-3.
What’s it mean?: With the loss, the Canadiens remain in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. They are six points behind eighth-place Pittsburgh but the Penguins have played three fewer games.
Markov opens scoring: The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead when Andrei Markov scored at 7:40 of the first period. The Canadiens had an oddman rush and Tomas Plekanec elected to pass the puck back to Markov, who was joining the play up the middle. Lucas Lessio and Nathan Beaulieu had chances off the rush but Semyon Varlamov made the saves.
Back and forth: The Avalanche got on the board at 3:31 of the second period when Erik Johnson scored a short-handed goal, putting a shot over Ben Scrivens’s shoulder on the blocker side. The Canadiens got that one back when Varlamov went behind the net to play the puck. Max Pacioretty intercepted the clearing pass in the corner and found Lars Eller alone in front. Varlamov was still re-establishing his position in the crease when Eller scored his 10th goal of the season.
Second chance: Iginla thought he had a tying goal when he backhanded a shot over a sprawling Scrivens at 13:51 of the second period. But a replay showed that Iginla backed into the goaltender and knocked him down. That wiped out the goal and sent Iginla to the penalty box. But the veteran evened the score with a power-play goal at 16:46. Iginla’s 16th goal of the season came nine seconds after Eller was sent off for holding the stick.
Coming up: The Canadiens are back at the Bell Centre for games Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers and Monday against Nashville. Both games are on Sportsnet East, RDS, and TSN Radio 690, and fans should note that the Friday game starts at 7 p.m. The Canadiens are in Washington Wednesday and wrap up the week with a home game against Toronto.