Kane scores twice to lead Hawks past Avs
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Chicago BlackhawksAn early wakeup call and same-day flight to Denver didn't affect the Chicago Blackhawks, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 at Pepsi Center on Saturday.
Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist for the Central Division-leading Blackhawks (24-10-2), who rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 first-period deficits.
The loss was the first in four games for the Avalanche (13-14-8), who went 4-0-2 in their previous six games.
The Blackhawks took their first lead of the game 3-2 at 13:14 of the second period on a power-play goal by Brent Seabrook. He scored from the right circle with a shot that went over Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda and past goalie Calvin Pickard with 21 seconds left on Nathan MacKinnon's delay-of-game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass.
Patrick Sharp celebrated his 33rd birthday with a power-play goal at 8:14 of the third period to give Chicago a 4-2 lead. Jonathan Toews knocked the puck away from Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson in the corner and passed to Sharp for a quick shot.
The Blackhawks protected the lead by killing back-to-back Avalanche power plays, including a two-man advantage for 40 seconds. Kane added an empty-net goal with 5.4 seconds to play.
Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford made eight saves in the second period, his best against Jarome Iginla's backhand attempt in the slot at 4:09. Colorado's Matt Duchene was skating in alone on Crawford when Seabrook caught up and knocked the puck away at 16:50.
The Avalanche and Blackhawks were tied 2-2 in a fast-paced first period.
MacKinnon opened the scoring for Colorado at 6:56 with his first goal in 17 games since Nov. 13 against the New York Rangers. He took a pass from Maxime Talbot, raced down right wing and beat Crawford to the far side for his first goal at home since Nov. 2 against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Blackhawks responded at 7:27 when Toews passed across the slot to Brandon Saad for a shot through a crowd of players screening Pickard.
Johnson put the Avalanche ahead at 8:53 with a shot from the right point that eluded Crawford to the short side. The goal was Johnson's 10th of the season, matching his career-high, and stretched his goal streak to four games. He has six goals in the past six games.
Kane tied it for Chicago at 16:19 with his 17th goal. Duncan Keith shot from the right point and Kane, while skating to the net, deflected it past Pickard.
The Avalanche killed two penalties in the period and came close to scoring on each. Alex Tanguay had a semi-breakaway with Ryan O'Reilly in the box for tripping, but he skated too deep on the left and hit the outside of the post at 3:53.
Talbot shot the puck off the far post from the left wing at 11:51 with Zach Redmond off for interference.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
28/12/2014 - 05:55
