Avalanche at Blackhawks
THE STORY: The Chicago Blackhawks are near the top of the NHL
standings because of a prolific offense. If they get their special
teams and No. 1 goaltender to raise their games, the Blackhawks have a
legitimate chance to hang their second Stanley Cup championship banner
in three years. The Blackhawks on Friday host the Colorado Avalanche,
who have found their legs again on the road. Colorado won its first six
games of the season away from Denver, lost its next nine and has won its
last three, including a 2-1 victory at Los Angeles on Monday. The
Avalanche have also won three straight overall and eight of their last
nine to move one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Blackhawks are coming off a 5-4 loss to the Flyers on Thursday in
their first trip to Philadelphia since winning Game 6 of the Stanley Cup
Finals in 2010. Chicago and Colorado split two meetings in October,
with the road team winning each time.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), CS Chicago
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (22-18-1): Colorado is tied for the NHL
lead with five wins when trailing after two periods. One came Monday
when Ryan O’Reilly scored with 5:43 remaining in the third period before
the Avalanche won in a shootout. O’Reilly leads Colorado with 29 points
and 19 assists and is also tops in the NHL with 55 takeaways. Semyon
Varlamov (13-13-1, 2.96, .900) has won three straight and four of his
last five games.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (24-12-4): Corey Crawford (15-9-2, 2.82,
.904) is expected to play goal. Ray Emery was in net Thursday, when
Chicago erased a two-goal deficit in the third period but allowed James
van Riemsdyk’s second goal of the game with 33 seconds left. Chicago’s
power play is 0 for 14 in its last four games. The Blackhawks are in a
stretch where they play 14 of 17 games at home. Chicago is 6-1-1 in the
second of back-to-back games this season.
OVERTIME:
1. Chicago has also struggled on the penalty kill at 80.1 percent and will face the NHL’s best power play on the road (28.1).
2. The Avalanche are 7-0 in shootouts this season and have won 18 of their last 19 in the bonus format.