Clinching the No. 3 seed in the Central Division and a spot in the Western Conference playoffs is well within reach for the Colorado Avalanche.
Trouble is, Colorado has struggled to distance itself from opponents lately.
The Avalanche (45-26-4, 94 points) enter Wednesday’s visit to the Chicago Blackhawks on a two-game losing streak. After starting a four-game homestand with multi-goal wins against Detroit and Los Angeles, Colorado fell by one goal apiece to St. Louis and Calgary.
Monday’s loss to the Flames saw the Avalanche surge to a 2-0 advantage — only to yield goals 32 seconds apart midway through the third period and allow the only shootout tally.
“Can’t have that now, especially this time of year,” said Colorado forward Brock Nelson. “Closing out games and winning games, that’s what it’s all about. So, we know we’re capable of closing out, too, with the way we can play. So, it’s just about energy, focus.”
Chicago (21-44-9, 51 points) toted the second-fewest points in the NHL into Tuesday, but has frustrated the Avalanche more often than not this season.
The Blackhawks rolled 5-2 Oct. 28 at Colorado and prevailed 3-1 Jan. 8 on home ice before the Avalanche regrouped for a 3-0 victory on March 10. Scott Wedgewood posted a 20-save shutout for host Colorado.
That defeat marked the second in a seven-game losing streak for the Blackhawks, which since has stretched to 10 losses in 11 games.
Chicago blitzed Philadelphia 7-4 on March 23 to begin a five-game homestand. Since then, the Blackhawks have been outscored 15-8 by New Jersey, Vegas and Utah.
“There have been times in the last couple of games where you see we’re doing some really good things,” said Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen. “Then when we have a little hiccup, we have a hard time stopping it after that. But a lot of young guys are doing a lot of good things.”
Forward Oliver Moore and defenseman Sam Rinzel skated in their NHL debuts Sunday. Rinzel was denied on separate scoring chances midway through the second period of a 5-2 loss to Utah.
“Like ‘Ollie’ said, as a hockey player, you want to win, so that stings,” Rinzel said. “But overall it was an unbelievable first game.”
Colorado held a six-point edge on Minnesota and a seven-point cushion on St. Louis before play began Tuesday. The Avalanche have seven games remaining.
Nathan MacKinnon continues to keep the Avalanche afloat. He stretched his home points streak to 25 games with an assist Monday against Calgary and has collected points in two of his last three road games. He reached 110 points with Monday’s helper and is just the 12th player in league history to reach that threshold in three consecutive seasons.
“He finds a way to chip in and create offensively. … I think that’s what great players do,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “They find a way to chip away, and when they get opportunities, they tend to finish them off. And he’s done that consistently.”
–Field Level Media
