Montreal has its own story going, and the guy in net is the biggest part of it. Rookie Jacob Fowler made 30 saves in the 5-2 win at Boston, improving to 8-1-1 and 8-0-1 over his past 9. The last goalie 21 or younger to put together a 9-game point streak was Braden Holtby in 2010-11. The team point streak is up to 12 games (9-0-3), and it survived a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota that could easily have ended it.
The Boston win showed Montreal's scoring depth. Dach, Anderson, Evans, Caufield and Danault scored the first 5 goals, all by 14:15 of the 2nd, and nobody had to carry the night. That depth matters with Ivan Demidov still on IR. RDS reported Demidov skated on his own and could resume training with the team soon, but he isn't close enough to count on for Saturday. Sam Montembeault is also on IR, which is why Fowler's run has become the whole goaltending plan.
Colorado's last 5 have been streaky. The Avalanche lost 7-2 in Columbus, then shut out Detroit 4-0 and won 6-3 in Toronto. That's a team capable of beating Montreal on the road, as long as MacKinnon is centering the top line and Makar is running the back end. If one or both sit, it's an Avalanche team that gets by on special teams and Landeskog against a Montreal side that is scoring up and down the lineup and has a hot rookie in net.
The betting board isn't posted yet. Small early money has leaned Colorado, which probably reflects the name more than the injury report. The game depends on 2 day-to-day designations becoming yes or no. Watch for the morning-skate news from Colorado on Saturday.
