Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) – Bryan Bickell broke a tie with 5:17 remaining
in the third period as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2
on Wednesday.
Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw scored power-play goals in the second period
for the Blackhawks, who improved to 3-1-0 on their six-game road trip. Patrick
Kane collected three assists, while Corey Crawford made 27 saves for the win.
Ryan O’Reilly and Maxime Talbot had the goals for Colorado, which was seeking
a third straight win. Calvin Pickard stopped 42 shots in his second career NHL
start.
“It was a great effort tonight, but it would have been nice if we had more
power plays,” said Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay, who returned to the lineup
after missing two games with a facial fracture. “When we were 5-on-5, we
played them even.”
Chicago finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while Colorado was 0-for-2 with
the man advantage.
O’Reilly roofed a backhander off a scramble in front of Crawford, tying the
game at 2-2 at 3:36 of the third.
Bickell put the Blackhawks back on top when he swept the puck in from down low
after Kane skated around defenseman Nick Holden.
“I don’t know how (Kane) handled (the puck) while it was bouncing, but a great
pass over to me,” Bickell said.
After a scoreless opening period, Talbot staked the Avalanche to a 1-0 lead at
7:35 of the middle stanza. He beat Blackhawks players to the crease and buried
Marc-Andre Cliche’s pass from behind the net.
Chicago tied it a little over four minutes later. Brent Seabrook’s point shot
trickled past Pickard and Toews poked in the loose puck at 11:50.
Shaw, who sat out the Blackhawks’ three previous games with an upper-body
injury, scored on a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Kane at
14:21 of the second.
Game Notes
Colorado allowed only two goals on 33 power-play opportunities in its first 10
home games this season … Seabrook picked up his 300th career point … The
Avalanche were 4-1-0 against the Blackhawks last season.
