Avalanche at Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks have taken control of the Central Division with four consecutive victories and hope to avoid a letdown when they host the league-worst Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The Blackhawks increased their lead over struggling Minnesota to five points with a 2-1 overtime victory at Toronto on Saturday in which leading scorer Patrick Kane was kept off the scoresheet.
Ryan Hartman’s goal with 17 seconds left in the extra session and Corey Crawford’s 25-save effort on Saturday made Chicago 16-3-0 since the beginning of February as it has climbed within three points of league-best Washington (100). The Avalanche allowed four goals in the third period Saturday en route to a 5-1 defeat in Detroit as they fell to 3-3-0 over their last six contests. Leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon recorded his 15th goal of the season and third in six contests on Saturday as Colorado remained one of two teams in the league with a single-digit win total on the road (9-25-1). “We’re a proud bunch of guys in this room,” Avalanche forward John Mitchell told reporters after the team’s 47th loss of the season, “and no one wants to go through a season like this.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Altitude (Colorado), WGN (Chicago)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (20-47-3): MacKinnon has registered 45 points to lead the way for Colorado and Matt Duchene tops the team with 17 goals after ending an 11-game drought against Detroit in a 3-1 home win on Wednesday. Defenseman Tyson Barrie recorded his 26th assist in Saturday’s loss while rookie Mikko Rantanen is going through a rough stretch as his point drought reached 10 games. The Avalanche have fallen to last in the league on the power play (12.9 percent) after managing to convert just two of their 41 opportunities over the last 16 contests.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (46-20-5): Artem Anisimov (leg) is out until April and veteran Marian Hossa (lower body) missed Saturday’s contest, making him questionable for the game against Colorado. Kane registered five shots Saturday but could not add to his team-leading 31 goals and 77 points, but Artemi Panarin (23 goals, 41 assists) and captain Jonathan Toews (18, 33) each helped set up a tally. Crawford is 5-2-0 with a .940 save percentage this month but could give way Sunday to backup Scott Darling, who has allowed a total of six goals while winning five straight decisions.
OVERTIME
1. The Blackhawks have earned at least one point in the last six meetings (5-0-1) with the Avalanche, including two wins and an overtime loss this season.
2. Colorado LW J.T. Compher, a former second-round pick of Buffalo, has registered one goal in nine games since being recalled from the minors.
3. Chicago C John Hayden on Saturday became the seventh different player to score his first NHL goal for the team this season.