The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 5-0 Monday night. After an embarrassing defeat to the Nashville Predators Saturday evening, it was vital for Colorado to bounce back against a club they had just beaten down the game prior. Colorado did exactly that, and they did so in style. Let’s break it down!
First Period
The early going in this contest was a bit of a rollercoaster. Colorado dominated the tempo right off the opening draw, but an early penalty to Andrew Cogliano put Chicago on the first powerplay of the game. Chicago racked off five shots on this power play alone, but Justus Annunen met the task on each shot and kept the game scoreless.
Towards the middle of the frame, the Avs struck first, and it was Nathan MacKinnon extending his home-point streak to 30 games. After Cale Makar dug the puck loose behind the Blackhawks net, he found Devon Toews, who zipped a pass across the zone to MacKinnon, who walked in and ripped one past Petr Mrazek. 30-for-30 at home this season, 1-0 Colorado.
Later in the period, Colorado doubled up their lead. Jonathan Drouin ripped a shot high glove past Mrazek, and initially, the officials waved the goal off, as they didn’t see the puck enter the net. Drouin’s shot exited the net too quickly, the purest form of snipe you’ll see, but counted for a 2-0 Colorado lead.
Chicago took a late penalty, allowing Colorado to open this game wide open before the first intermission, but nothing would come of the chance. The teams skated into the dressing room 2-0.
Second Period
Colorado jumped all over the Blackhawks, dominating zone possession, and it nearly resulted in a first-half blowout. Both Artturi Lehkonen and Toews were so close to breaking the floodgates open, but each struck iron with their shots.
In between posts, the Blackhawks nearly cut the lead in half, after Connor Bedard found himself all alone on a breakaway, but Annunen made his best save of the evening, stoning the rookie phenom cold. You can sense the confidence skyrocketing in the young Finnish goaltender.
It wouldn’t be until the middle portion of the second period, when Makar ripped a shot through some traffic into the top left past Mrazek, giving Colorado a commanding 3-0 lead, and another Av breaking a goal drought.
To add to the onslaught, Caleb Jones fired a puck from the point that deflected off of a Blackhawk. It then hit the skate of Zach Parise who was screening Mrazek net front, a bounce signifying the night belonged to Colorado. MacKinnon scored his third point of the night on this goal with the secondary assist, 4-0 Colorado.
Makar took a late interference penalty, but at this point, Chicago had mostly thrown the white flag. Colorado took a 4-0 lead into the dressing room.
Third Period
The third period was very similar to Thursday’s third period. Colorado already had the game decided, Colorado geared it down, and Chicago tried to find something to feel good about. The hockey was mostly low event. Bowen Byram took a slashing minor in the middle of the frame, but Chicago struggled to generate much danger on the advantage.
Colorado got a power play late in the stanza, and the top unit hopped over the boards to do some more damage. They made sure tonight was a carbon copy of Thursday night, as MacKinnon cleaned up his own rebound to register his fourth point of the night and tie Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov atop the NHL scoring ladder with 105 points.
Yeti Takeaways
MacKinnon registered another four points on the night (2G 2A) for 105 total points on the season, and tied Kucherov for the top of the NHL scoring race. He now has points in ALL 30 Avalanche home games this season. Only 11 home games remain.
Annunen posted his second consecutive 5-0 shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks this week, turning aside 36 shots in the victory tonight. He’s becoming a very intriguing story in the late portion of this season, when Colorado needs it most. In his last four starts, Annunen is now 2-1-1, while posting a 1.20 GAA, and a .953 SV%. Colorado has potentially been in the market for a backup netminder ahead of Friday’s deadline, but Annunen may have shown up for the job at the right moment. I wouldn’t be opposed to starting him again on Wednesday.
The win is nice, but now they have to carry this momentum into another strong home outing against Detroit on Wednesday. Do whatever it takes to win that game, even if it means rolling with Annunen again. Valeri Nichushkin could be back in the next contest. This morning at AM skate, Head Coach Jared Bednar spoke to the media and said he “hopes to get Val in sometime this week”, but that it wouldn’t be tonight. This is a different hockey club in Nichushkin’s presence.
Next on the Mountain
The Avalanche will be back in action Wednesday night on national television when they face off against J.T. Compher and the Detroit Red Wings for their final game before the trade deadline. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MST.