Avalanche rally from three-goal deficit to defeat Blackhawks
DENVER -- Erik Johnson scored at 1:57 of overtime and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists, and Gabriel Landeskog and Mikhail Grigorenko also scored for Colorado.
Marcus Kruger had a goal and an assist and Artemi Panarin and Ryan Hartman scored for Chicago (50-22-8).
The Blackhawks' chance at winning the Presidents' Trophy ended when Washington beat Toronto earlier Tuesday night. Chicago has home-ice advantage through the Western Conference playoffs.
Defenseman Duncan Keith was given the night off, the first game he has not played all season, as coach Joel Quenneville tries to rest some of his players ahead of the start of next week's postseason.
The Avalanche (22-54-3) are trying to gain some positives out of a disappointing season. They had a season-high 51 shots and rallied from a three-goal deficit in the second to tie it in the third.
Duchene set up the equalizer with a spinning pass to the slot and Grigorenko's tip went over Darling's left shoulder at 5:46.
Johnson scored the winner when he skated behind the Chicago defense and beat Darling for his second goal of the season.
Darling had a season-high 47 saves and Calvin Pickard stopped 24 shots for Colorado.
The teams combined for five goals in the second period after a scoreless first period in which Colorado outshot Chicago 15-3.
Panarin started it with a goal 28 seconds into the period, Hartman scored at 4:15 and Kruger's breakaway goal at 10:57 gave Chicago a 3-0 lead.
The Avalanche, who struggled to score on the power play all season, chipped away at the lead with two short-handed goals. Duchene got them on the board with his 18th at 12:16 and Landeskog made it 3-2 when he got his own rebound and scored on a wraparound at 16:31.
Colorado had a 33-20 advantage in shots on goal through two periods.
NOTES: Chicago C Artem Anisimov and D Niklas Hjalmarsson did not make the trip to Colorado. Anisimov missed 11 games with a lower-body injury and Hjalmarrson stayed home to be with his wife, who is expecting the couple’s second child. ... Avalanche RW Blake Comeau and D Anton Lindholm (head) were scratched. RW rookie Mikko Rantanen was also scratched with a lower-body injury. C Joe Colborne, a healthy scratch the previous three games, was in the lineup.