Avalanche inch closer to playoffs with 5-1 win over Chicago

With the Colorado Avalanche using their recent road trip to exorcise some demons of the past, they rolled into Chicago tonight trying to topple the once-mighty Blackhawks in a building they’ve won in seemingly only when Semyon Varlamov goes into hockey god mode. It wasn’t as easy as the final score indicates, but the score nonetheless finished:

Avalanche 5, Blackhawks 1. Goodbye Chicago from any and all playoff consideration for this year. And, hello, at least a little bit closer anyway, to serious playoff contention for the Avs.

With the way the game started tonight, it seemed Colorado was following the script of its previous trip to the Windy City when they lost 2-1 in overtime in an overall sluggish effort. Despite outshooting Chicago 16-11 in the first period, the Blackhawks enjoyed a 1-0 lead when Brent Seabrook scored from the point on a power play gifted to them after a still-unseen penalty on Erik Johnson.

As has become custom for the Avs, the second period would really dictate how the rest of the game would go and this time it was all good for the visiting snowstorms. Things got started from an unlikely source, the second power play unit when Alexander Kerfoot found himself alone in front of the net with the puck and he beat Anton Forsberg to tie the game. Upon replay, it appeared Forsberg was completely clueless to the puck’s whereabouts and Kerfoot unpolitely showed him the light when he ripped the puck past him. It broke a lengthy scoreless streak for Kerfoot, whose well-earned demotion to the fourth line has been tough to watch in recent games.

Not satisfied with simply tying the game, Colorado’s top line got to work and Tyson Barrie joined the fun when he ignited a Colorado breakout by skating the puck through the neutral zone. He dropped the puck to Mikko Rantanen, who found Nathan MacKinnon alone next to Forsberg. Instead of shooting, MacKinnon waited for the red sea (of Blackhawks) to part and he fired a pass between Brandon Saad’s legs and hit Rantanen for the one-timer and it was 2-1. Of note, Barrie drove the net hard on the play and took all kinds of punishment, including a wicked cross-check to the back from Duncan Keith, who was presumably unleashing his pent-up frustration at suddenly being on a terrible team. The goal extended point streaks for all three players, pushing Barrie’s Avalanche record to 11 games. He is just four games from tying the franchise record.

The trio wasn’t quite finished as they had a power play goal to respond to from the second unit and they did just that at the 12:40 mark when Barrie blasted a shot from the point past Forsberg, who got a piece of it and was visibly frustrated at letting in another one. MacKinnon and Rantanen picked up assists on the goal and Colorado took its 3-1 lead into the third period.

With Dallas having already lost to Washington in regulation and Los Angeles pulling another point in an overtime loss to Winnipeg, the Avalanche had the door opened for a very productive night if they could finish off the Blackhawks in the third. After not scoring in the final few seconds of a carryover power play, Colorado went to the penalty kill almost immediately after. The Blackhawks put pressure on but couldn’t solve Varlamov and the game went back to even strength.

Despite the Blackhawks tilting the ice hard, Varlamov did what he does in Chicago, which is quiet the crowd and keep Chicago’s stars from feeling good about themselves. An Erik Johnson empty-net goal made it 4-1, sealing the game.

It’s back to Denver now for the Avs and another huge game – they’re all huge now – Thursday against Los Angeles.