The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, Apr. 2 at the United Center in Chicago. The Avalanche were trying to earn a win after dropping their last two contests, although they earned a loser point against the Calgary Flames on Mar. 31. The Blackhawks, for their part, were just plain looking for a win after losing 10 of their last 11 contests.
Despite the Avalanche sitting third place in the Central Division while the Blackhawks are fighting to stay out of last place in the league, Chicago took the first two contests in this 4-contest season series. But they couldn’t get over the hump in this one, dropping the game 3-2 in a shootout to split the season series.
Let’s get to the highlights.
An Overturned Goal & Shorthanded Tally Give Hawks 1st Period Lead
The Avalanche thought they were on the board first when defenseman Sam Malinski beat Blackhawks’ goaltender Spencer Knight early in the first period. But the Hawks challenged for offside, and won the challenge. The script was flipped when Ilya Mikheyev scored a shorthanded goal to make it 1-0, Blackhawks. It was the 30-year-old’s third shorthanded tally and 18th goal of the season.
Colorado did their best to even the score; they peppered Knight with eight shots and 21 shot attempts, but Knight stopped them all. Chicago, for their part, recorded seven shots and 16 shot attempts of their own on Avs’ netminder Scott Wedgewood.
The first period went to the Blackhawks.
Blackhawks Hold Serve in Second Frame
The Hawks came out flying in the second period, trying to cushion their lead against the high-powered Avs. On another power play for Colorado, Nick Foligno almost scored another shorthanded goal for the Blackhawks. At the 8:17 mark of the middle frame, defenseman Connor Murphy found the back of the net to make it 2-0 for the Blackhawks. He was assisted by Blackhawk’s young superstar and 2023 first overall draft pick, Connor Bedard.
Again, the Avs competed hard and led in most of the stats. They ended the second period up 16-15 in shots and 45-30 in shot attempts. Forward Nathan MacKinnon alone registered one shot on goal, one missed shot and six! missed shots. The Avalanche also led in hits (18-15) and faceoff percentage (66%-34%).
Third Period Comeback for the Avalanche
But the Avalanche weren’t done yet. At the 9:17 mark of the third period, MacKinnon fed defenseman Cale Makar to cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-1. It was the defenseman’s 29th goal of the season, a new career high.
The Blackhawks held on through most of the third, but the Avalanche pulled their goalie with 1:08 minutes to go in the game. With just 10 seconds left, Martin Necas scored to force overtime.
The Blackhawks were in the lead for most of the game, but they are notorious for giving up leads. Meanwhile, the Avalanche are notorious for staying in games.
Overtime Isn’t Enough
It was obvious the more experienced Avalanche had the advantage in overtime against a very young Blackhawks’ team that is currently breaking in numerous prospects at the end of their losing season. But the Blackhawks hung in there, and shots were even at two a piece by the end of overtime. Defenseman Artyom Levshunov had a great chance as the buzzer sounded, but Wedgewood made the save.
Shootout Goes to the Avalanche
Ryan Donato, Brock Nelson and Bedard all couldn’t convert in the shootout. Then MacKinnon scored, but Teuvo Teravainen answered back for the Blackhawks. Alas, Artturi Lehkonen scored as well, giving the Avalanche the 3-2 win.
Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado Avalanche (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
The better team prevailed in the end. But the Blackhawks played well against a very good team. It was great experience for all their new, young players. Plus, it was a very exciting game to watch.
Up next, the Avalanche next head to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets in the second of back-to-back games on Thursday (Apr. 3). The Blackhawks also hit the road to visit Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Friday (Apr. 4).
