CHICAGO — The Avalanche kept it rolling Tuesday at the United Center, defeating the Blackhawks 5-1 to improve to 8-1-3 in its last 12 games. Star center had two assists, giving him 91 points on the season, and he continues to lead the NHL in points-per-game (1.40). He is second in league scoring to Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (94 points), who has played in six more games than MacKinnon.
Game story: Avalanche wins at Chicago to make significant gain in playoff race via
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
The notebook leads with missing the game because of illness.
THREE STARS
- . Goalie made 44 saves and was easily the MVP for the Avs.
- . Avs defenseman had two points, including a power-play goal.
- . The 21-year-old winger had two points (goal) and his assist streak increased to seven games, tying a club record set in 2010 by John-Michael Liles.
NOTE: Avs rookie Alex Kerfoot (two goals) played a team-low 8:21, which is why he wasn’t among the three stars.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Despite the Blackhawks’ struggles — they will miss the playoffs for the first time in 10 years — a crowd of 21,633 developed at the United Center.
NEXT UP
Thursday vs. Los Angeles at the
Always super cool spectacle in Chicago
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
Winning. Before the Avs improved to 40-25-8 (88 points), the (84 points) lost 4-3 at Washington and the (87) lost in overtime at Winnipeg. Colorado solidified its playoff position and now has the sixth-most points in the 15-team Western Conference.
Powerful. The Hawks and Avs combined to begin 3-for-3 on the power play, with the Avs scoring the latter two for a 2-for-2 ledger. Colorado finished 2-of-3 with the advantage and Chicago was 1-of-4.
win 5-1 at Chicago, extend playoff lead
— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers)
Streaks galore. Varlamov played in his 18th consecutive game and MacKinnon and Barrie extended their points streak to 13 and 11, respectively. Colorado is the NHL’s only team to put together a 10-game winning streak and a 10-game winning streak at home. The Avs also had a nine-game points streak recently.
Connection. Barrie has 12 goals on the season, and Rantanen has assisted on each of the last nine. That stat courtesy of Avs Twitter boss Emily Wade, who also shoots the photos on the team’s site.
Down to nine. The Avs have nine remaining games, including five at home: Thursday vs. L.A., Saturday vs. Vegas, March 28 against Philadelphia, March 30 vs. Chicago and the April 7 regular-season finale against St. Louis. The road games are Vegas on Monday, April 1 at Anaheim, at L.A. April 2 and in San Jose April 5.
