Not even a raucous Bell Centre could break the Montreal Canadiens' skid, as the Habs lost their home opener 3-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
Ryan O'Reilly of Clinton, Ont., was the hero for the Avs, picking up his own rebound and sliding the puck past Montreal goalie Carey Price with less than seven minutes to go in the game.
It was the 18-year-old's first career NHL tally.
"I had a great opportunity there," said O'Reilly, the youngest player in Avalanche history. "Both linemates battled so hard for about 30 seconds there. I was just sitting in the weeds, the puck came to me, I had a chance to win the game and it worked out good."
Milan Hejduk and Kyle Cumiskey scored the other goals for Colorado, while Roman Hamrlik and Tomas Plekanec replied for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens (2-4-0) have lost four in a row. Montreal was the last team to play its home opener, after going 2-3-0 on a five-game road trip to start the season. The Habs went 24-10-7 at the Bell Centre last season.
"I don't think we're doing enough to win games," said Montreal newcomer Mike Cammalleri, who is still without a goal as a Canadien. "I don't think we should leave things to chance."
The surprising Avalanche (5-1-1) won its third straight game.
"We're a young team and sometimes it's good to be young and full of it," said Avs veteran Darcy Tucker. "We're hungry for the puck."
Colorado goalie Craig Anderson continued to impress, making 29 saves for the win. Habs goalie Price made 20 stops in a losing cause.
Sustained Montreal pressure in the Avalanche zone led to a hooking penalty on Colorado defenceman Kyle Quincey eight minutes into the game, giving the Canadiens a chance to open the scoring.
And the Habs did just that. Tomas Plekanec fed Hamrlik a pass in the slot, and the Montreal defender one-timed a shot into the net for his second of the year.
The Canadiens had a couple more power play chances in the first, but couldn't extend the lead as Avs goalie Anderson made some big stops.
Price tried to hold the fort in the second as Colorado put pressure on Montreal, but a bit of bad luck went his way to even the score 1-1 at 13:39.
Hejduk scored his third of the season on an Avalanche power play when his shot bounced off the skates of Montreal defender Josh Gorges and through Price's legs.
More bad bounces gave Colorado a lead with 28 seconds remaining in the second. Cumiskey scored his first of the season when his centring pass went off some bodies in front of the Montreal net and past Price.
"Those 20 minutes cost us the game," said Montreal's Brian Gionta.
But a break went the Habs' way in the third, and the game was tied once again. A Canadiens dump-in looked like it went out of play, touching the mesh above the end-board glass in the Colorado zone, but the referees didn't blow the play dead.
Soon after, Plekanec received a pass across the slot from Habs teammate Andrei Kostitsyn, and buried the puck into the net for his second of the season.
The Colorado bench went livid, as did netminder Anderson, but the officials didn't overturn the call.
The Avalanche would regain the lead on O'Reilly's first of his career at 13:47 of the third.
This time the Canadiens bench was angry, as the team thought that Gomez was hit from behind moments before O'Reilly scored.
With files from The Canadian Press
