It hasn’t even been a week since the Chicago Blackhawks were miserably defeated 5-0 by the Colorado Avalanche at the United Center, but they’re in Denver on Monday night to face the Avalanche once more. Yay.
Like the Blackhawks, the Avalanche have only played in one game since last Thursday and it was a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators over the weekend. As a result, nothing much has changed for the Avalanche since that game in terms of their standings: they’re still solidly the third seed in the Central Division and their top players and depth remains unmoved. Nathan McKinnon, Mikko Rantenen, and Devon Toews all picked up a single point in the Nashville loss but that’s it. To check out seasonal trends for Colorado, see Thursday’s game preview:
The Nashville loss is interesting, though, because it shows that while Colorado is still a powerhouse, they can be defeated by a lesser foe. This was also true when the Blackhawks beat them 3-2 back on Dec. 19, but the key is obviously for the Blackhawks to actually show up and put in the effort — something they were unfortunately lacking in their last two games. In the loss to the Predators, the Avalanche were outplayed practically the entire game: they owned just 38.24 percent of the shot attempts, 43.14 percent of the shots on goal, and 46.7 of the expected goals at 5-on-5. Their penalty kill also allowed two goals against on three opportunities, dropping their PK out of the top-10 in the league.
Colorado will be without Josh Manson (lower body) Monday, which is only semi-important because of the slash to Connor Bedard last week. Bedard called the play “nothing” that had been “blow out of proportion”:
With Manson out, Celeb Jones will likely draw into the lineup:
Otherwise, lines are expected to look much like they did when Colorado was in Chicago last week, including that they will start 23-year old Justus Annunen again:
In addition to the embarrassing loss to the Avalanche on Thursday, the Blackhawks also dropped a 5-2 stinker to the Blue Jackets on Saturday. It’s one thing to lose to a strong team like Colorado, but it’s a completely different nightmare to put up such a lackluster, mistake-filled performance against a fellow bottom-feeder like Columbus.
Coach Luke Richardson apparently had a strong critique of his team:
As for the lines at Monday morning skate, they were basically the same as last game with some minor tweaks, including Petr Mrazek taking back the starter net.
In player health news, it seems Andreas Athanasiou is close to returning from a groin injury that’s kept him out since November. He’s not traveling with the team currently, but Richardson said the team is hopeful he’ll join them in DC when they face the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Avalanche
43.36% (31st) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 51.79% (9th)
42.64% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 51.23% (12th)
2.03 (32nd) — Goals per game — 3.63 (2nd)
3.56 (29th) — Goals against per game — 3.11 (18th)
46.1% (31st) — Faceoffs — 47.9% (24th)
13.0% (31st) — Power play — 24.0% (7th)
77.5% (23rd) — Penalty kill — 80.4% (t-117th)
How to watch
When: 8 p.m. CT
Where: Ball Arena, Denver
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Webstream: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: WGN 720