Taylor Raddysh tapped in the game-winning goal in the third period and Petr Mrazek made 31 saves as the host Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to three games.
Colorado’s would-be game-tying goal from Alex Newhook with 4:51 remaining was overturned for goaltender interference following a Chicago challenge. The Avalanche have lost seven of eight.
Sam Lafferty and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for Chicago, which snapped Colorado’s five-game winning streak in the series.
Raddysh put Chicago ahead for good at 6:36 of the third period after passes from Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Toews found him in prime position in front of the net.
Pavel Francouz stopped 27 of 30 shots for the Avalanche in his first action since Dec. 13 as he recovered from a lower-body injury.
On Thursday, Francouz spelled Alexandar Georgiev, who had started Colorado’s previous 12 games.
Francouz was especially sharp in the second period, when he helped the Avalanche kill three penalties while making 13 saves.
The teams were a combined 0-for-8 on the power play.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring just 3:24 into the game when Lafferty took a pass from Colin Blackwell just inside the blue line and converted a breakaway. Evan Rodrigues tied the game just over eight minutes later as he scored on a rebound.
Athanasiou scored at 1:44 of the second to give the Blackhawks the lead on play that saw Mrazek notch the secondary assist, but Colorado answered again when Cale Makar tallied at 11:47 on a long wrist shot.
Nathan MacKinnon had two assists for the Avalanche.
Before the game, Chicago placed forward Patrick Kane (upper-body injury) on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 3. Kane, who has missed the past three games, is eligible to return as soon as Saturday.
MacKenzie Entwistle (right wrist) was activated from injured reserve in a corresponding move.
Mrazek notched his first win since Dec. 3.
–Field Level Media
