Blackhawks at Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche hope to land themselves back into a playoff spot in the Western Conference when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Colorado sits one point behind both St. Louis and Anaheim, who occupy the two wild-card positions, with five games remaining.
The Avalanche find themselves on the outside as a result of having lost three of their last four contests, including Wednesday's 2-1 setback against Philadelphia. Matt Nieto scored the lone goal in the loss to increase his point total to 24, which is three shy of the career high he set in 2014-15 with San Jose. Chicago extended its point streak to three games Thursday and halted its four-game slide at home with a 6-2 triumph over Winnipeg as Tomas Jurco recorded his first career two-goal performance. Colorado went 2-0-1 in its first three meetings with the Blackhawks this season, including two in Chicago earlier this month.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, Altitude2 (Colorado)
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (32-36-10): Chicago recalled J.F. Berube from Rockford of the American Hockey League after being forced to spring emergency backup goaltender Scott Foster into action on Thursday. The 36-year-old Foster, a member of a beer league who was signed to an amateur tryout contract, entered in the third period and stopped all seven shots he faced after Collin Delia - also making his NHL debut after Anton Forsberg suffered a season-ending injury during the morning practice - succumbed to cramps. Jurco, who needs two goals to match the career high of eight he set in 2013-14 as a rookie with Detroit, is expected to appear in his 200th NHL game on Friday.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (41-28-8): Andrew Hammond made 31 saves Wednesday in his debut with Colorado, but his stint with the team may be a brief one as Jonathan Bernier returned to practice Thursday. The 29-year-old Bernier has missed three games due to an infection in a cut on his hand that earned him a stay in the hospital. Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the team with 92 points, remains two shy of 300 for his career after being kept off the scoresheet in three straight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Avalanche RW Sven Andrighetto, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, practiced Thursday and could play against the Blackhawks.
2. Chicago D Brent Seabrook recorded one shot and a plus-1 rating over nearly 19 minutes of ice time Wednesday in his 1,000th NHL contest.
3. Colorado is just 1-for-13 on the power play over its last four games.