Déjà vu: the Chicago Blackhawks were shutout 5-0 by the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night in Denver after falling to the same fate last Thursday in Chicago.
Nathan MacKinnon put the the Avalanche up 1-0 just under 13 minutes into the first period. After some good cycling from the home team, MacKinnon took a cross-ice pass and strolled into open space inside the dot to score.
The Avalanche made it 2-0 with 2:48 remaining in the first after they intercepted a Blackhawks’ pass in the neutral zone, rushed the other way with numbers, and then Jonathan Drouin went top-shelf for the goal.
Even more déjà vu happened in the second as Colorado scored two more goals at practically the same intervals as in the opening frame.
First, MacKinnon set up Cale Makar for an absolute snipe from the top of the slot, again coming after some extended cycle time by the Avalanche, making it 3-0 just under 13 minutes in the period.
Then Caleb Jones’ point shot hit Zach Parise and beat Petr Mrazek with with 2:22 left in the second, extending the Avalanche’s lead to 4-0.
MacKinnon added insult to injury by tipping in a power-play goal with less than five minutes remaining in the game, putting the Avalanche up 5-0.
Notes
- The first period was decent for the Blackhawks in that they showed a lot more effort and looked competitive, even going as far as to outshoot the Avalanche 15-12. However, that shot total is pretty inflated by the Chicago power play, which accounted for 8 of those shots and most of the quality ones. Otherwise, at 5-on-5, the Blackhawks owned just 39.29 percent of the shot attempts and 33.33 percent of the scoring chances, but they also did have slightly more dangerous chances at 3-2.
- The second period kind of derailed an already not impactful Blackhawks team: out-attempted 23-12, outshot 13-4, and out-chanced 12-5 at 5-on-5. You could just feel the goals coming by the midway mark of the period.
- The third was better for the Blackhawks in terms of having the puck more but, realistically, that was because the Avalanche were in cruise mode with a four-goal lead. Colorado allowed more attempts but kept the quality against down low and didn’t press for more goals because there was no need to exert themselves like that. The Blackhawks ended with 37 shots on goal — their highest mark of the season — but it didn’t feel like they were ever really a threat outside of the first.
- The Blackhawks have allowed five goals against in their last three games, were shutout twice in that span, and hit the 22-game mark in their road losing streak — the fourth-longest road losing streak in NHL history.
- There was some questionable coverage in this game, but none more so than Dickinson on the MacKinnon goal. Granted, he’d been out there a good 40 seconds by then, but his decision to slowly lunge for the puck instead of staying between MacKinnon and the net was an odd choice.
- And I don’t know what the hell Beauvillier was doing on the Makar goal, but it shouldn’t have been that. Because why wouldn’t you turn your back on arguably the best defensemen in the NHL? Gross.
- Damn baby goaltenders really do perform like Vezina candidates against the Blackhawks, but couldn’t this dude just let Bedard score? Waste of a beautiful stretch pass from Kevin Korchinski.
- The only line that wasn’t underwater in terms of shot metrics was Nick Foligno, Tyler Johnson, and Taylor Raddysh — and they faced off against MacKinnon for about half that time, breaking fairly even in that span. They didn’t look particularly dangerous or anything but that’s a pretty good stat line against a high quality of competition.
- Bedard’s line with Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato got mostly equal share between the Avs’ top line with MacKinnon and the Parise-Drouin line, both of which pretty much dominated them in terms of puck possession and quality chances. Earlier in the season, Bedard’s lines really did well no matter who they faced, but they haven’t fared so well recently.
- Dickinson looked to be in some pain after being checked hard in the corner during the second period but he didn’t seem to miss a shift. Richardson didn’t give any updates postgame, so it’s likely he’s fine. Good thing, because the Blackhawks can’t afford to lose him.
- Only 20 games and about seven weeks left before this abysmal nightmare of a season is over.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Nathan MacKinnon — 2 goals, 2 assist
- Justus Annunen — 37 save shutout
- Cale Makar — 1 goal, 1 assists
What’s Next
The Blackhawks have no time to rest as they’re back at it on Tuesday night, heading to Arizona to take on the Coyotes at 8 p.m.