MONTREAL — The Colorado Avalanche will return to Denver from a three-game road trip as a different team, in more ways than one.

On one hand, the Avs will be without two of the best players in the world for a while and it will be survival mode. On the other, Colorado is coming back with five points after going 2-0-1 — including a culture-defining victory Saturday night at Bell Centre against one of the league’s best teams.

The short-handed Avalanche found enough offense and got 25 saves from Mackenzie Blackwood in a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, arguably the club’s best triumph of the season given the circumstances.

“It was just guys stepping up,” said Brock Nelson, who moved to the first line to replace MacKinnon. “Obviously those are guys you can’t replace — what they bring on the ice, what they bring in the room. For us, it was just embracing that challenge. Guys really bought in. (Blackwood) was solid. I thought we were pretty good defensively.”

The Avs, already short Josh Manson on defense, were without Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. MacKinnon will miss at least a month after taking a crosscheck to his right hip Thursday night in Ottawa. Makar is expected to miss about two weeks with a soft-tissue injury that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said he’s been playing through recently.

Colorado was down 2-0 to Ottawa midway through the second period when the two superstars went down within a minute of each other, but the Avs clawed back and gained a point in a 4-3 overtime loss.

They outscored Ottawa and Montreal, two teams that expect to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, by a combined 7-3 margin without MacKinnon and Makar.

The Avs scored twice on the power play against the Senators without the two stars, and they scored a huge insurance goal in this one with the extra man. Earlier in the power play, Artturi Lehkonen tipped a shot past Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes, but it hit the left post behind him.

A large scrum formed in front of the goalie, and Dobes made a couple of great saves to keep the puck out before Lehkonen snapped one past him at 4:14 of the third period. It was Lehkonen’s team-leading 15th goal of the season and his second power-play goal since being promoted to the top unit midway through the game Thursday night.

Bednar started his fourth line, which he rarely does, and they rewarded him with an early goal. Fedor Svechkov put the Avs in front with their first shot on goal at 3:57 of the opening period. Logan O’Connor put the puck out in front of Svechkov on a rush and when he chased it down, the Avs suddenly had a 2-on-1 develop.

Svechkov went to the net instead of passing and tucked a shot under the crossbar from a tight angle for his third goal of the season.

“I thought they were pretty good all night,” Nelson said of the fourth line. “They were buzzing. That was a huge goal to get us off and running. We talked the other day about our record when we get the first one and we haven’t done it enough so far this year.”

It was a slow start for the Avs’ top players, but the new-look top line scored late in the first. Martin Necas drew a penalty in his own zone by trying to skate through two Montreal players. Then, once the Avs got set up with the 6-on-5 at the other end, Artturi Lehkonen found Brock Nelson for a one-timer from near the bottom of the right circle for a 2-0 advantage at 15:55.

Nelson has six goals this season, but he’s been a Habs killer his entire career. He now has 22 goals and 33 points in 35 career games against Montreal.

Nick Suzuki cut Colorado’s lead in half midway through the second period with a highlight-reel goal. Juraj Slafkovsky deflected a breakout pass behind his back to himself, getting the Canadiens into the offensive zone. He stopped and found Suzkui cutting towards the slot.

Suzuki faked a one-timer, then received the pass and spun in one motion to put himself past Devon Toews before snapping a backhanded shot off the right post and in at 10:25 of the middle frame.

When the Avs left for Eastern Canada, a big theme in their recent play away from Ball Arena was effort and compete. This trip turned into arguably three of the best four or five road games Colorado has played this season.

The coming contests will not be easy without Makar and MacKinnon, but the Avs found some belief in their play in the 4.5 period of this trip they had to survive without them.

“Nothing is permanent in this league. The misery or success is ever changing,” Bednar said. “It’s what I love about this league. You have to prove yourself every night. … You lose a couple guys like that and it can galvanize your group too.

“We’re only one game into who knows how many they’re going to be out, but this was a good teaching game for our team. It’s a good game to help build belief in the locker room as well.”

Footnotes

Alex Gagne made his NHL debut for the Avs, replacing Makar in the lineup. He said before the game about 15-20 friends and family made a three-hour drive from New Hampshire to see him play. He was paired with Brent Burns, who was playing in career game No. 1,600.

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