Artturi Lehkonen Haunts Former Team as Avalanche End Canadiens' Point Streak
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Artturi Lehkonen knows what it's like to hear the Bell Centre crowd celebrate. He spent parts of six seasons giving Montreal Canadiens fans reasons to do exactly that.
Saturday night, however, he helped send them home disappointed.
The Colorado Avalanche forward had a goal and an assist against his former team, contributing to a 4-1 victory that ended Montreal's 12-game point streak.
It was an impressive performance under difficult circumstances for an Avalanche team playing without Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, both sidelined by lower-body injuries suffered Thursday against the Ottawa Senators.
The absence placed additional responsibility on the Avalanche's remaining offensive contributors, including Lehkonen, who has become one of the organization's most dependable forwards.
Artturi Lehkonen Delivers Against His Former Team
The Avalanche wasted little time gaining control.
Fedor Svechkov opened the scoring at 3:57 of the first period before Lehkonen helped extend the lead later in the frame.
With a delayed penalty coming against Montreal, Lehkonen delivered a pass to Brock Nelson, who beat goaltender Jakub Dobes with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
The Canadiens responded in the second period when captain Nick Suzuki scored to cut the Avalanche lead to 2-1.
Lehkonen would restore the two-goal cushion at 4:14 of the third, converting his own rebound on the power play.
Nicolas Roy added an empty-net goal to complete the scoring.
Lehkonen’s Scoring Streak Comes at Critical Time
For Lehkonen, the performance represented another productive night in an impressive offensive season thus far.
He has scored in three straight games, showing the kind of consistency the Avalanche will need while MacKinnon and Makar are on the shelf.
Montreal had gone 9-0-3 over its previous 12 games. The Avalanche arrived missing two of their biggest stars and left with two points.
The Avalanche will take a 12-6-3 record into Utah on Wednesday night to play the Mammoth, who are 10-8-3 on the young season. With MacKinnon out at least a month and Makar facing an absence of approximately two weeks, the Avalanche will need more performances like Lehkonen displayed Saturday night if they hope to weather the storm.
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Jason Fink is an NHL writer and lifelong hockey fan who fell in love with the game when he watched Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final. When he’s not writing, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife Michelle and their son Theo and daughter Stella. Whether he’s following the latest NHL news or cheering from the rink, his passion for the sport has been a constant throughout his life.