Avalanche  3    Canadiens  2

Recap: Montreal vs. Colorado

Sports Network | October 15, 2009

Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Ryan O'Reilly's first NHL goal with 6:13 remaining in the third period proved to be the difference, as the Colorado Avalanche spoiled Montreal's 100th home opener with a 3-2 win over the Canadiens at Bell Centre.

Kyle Cumiskey also tallied his first goal in the NHL and added an assist, while Milan Hejduk lit the lamp for the Avalanche, who have won three straight. Craig Anderson was solid in net, stopping 29-of-31 shots.

"We responded right away when they tied it at 2-2," O'Reilly said. "We could have hung our heads, but we responded as a young team. We went out there, got on the forecheck and took the play to them."

Tomas Plekanec registered a goal and a helper, and Roman Hamrlik tallied for Montreal, which has dropped four in a row after winning its first two games of the season. Carey Price made 20 saves in defeat.

"They claimed the second period and in the second period they had two power plays, and even though they didn't score, they had the momentum going," Plekanec said. "That's probably where we lost the game."

With the game deadlocked at 2-2, O'Reilly put the Avs in front with 6:13 left in regulation. After Colorado was putting pressure on the Habs with a good forecheck in their own end, O'Reilly took a pass from David Jones and had his initial shot stopped by Price from the slot. However, the resilient young center followed got his own rebound and put it in.

Then in the closing seconds and the Canadiens swarming the Colorado net, Anderson made a few huge saves from close range.

Montreal opened the scoring at 9:53 of the first period when Hamrlik took a right corner feed from Plekanec and found the back of the net on a wrist shot from the low left circle.

The Avalanche tied it while skating four aside with 5:21 left in the second after Hejduk's soft wrist shot from the slot deflected off a Montreal defenseman and trickled past Price.

Cumiskey's tally with 28 seconds remaining in the second put the Avs in front heading into the intermission. He shot the puck from a sharp left angle and the disc deflected off a defenseman and into the net.

Plekanec notched the equalizer 8:26 into the third when he put home an Andrei Kostitsyn cross-ice pass from in close.

Avalanche defenseman Ryan Wilson made his NHL debut and finished with a plus/minus rating of plus-one....Colorado defenseman John-Michael Liles, who suffered a shoulder injury in the team's 4-1 win at Toronto on Tuesday, missed the contest and is expected to be out for the next two weeks...Despite the loss, Montreal has still won three of the last five meetings with the Avalanche, but Colorado snapped a three-game winless skid at the Bell Centre.