Windy City Woes

The Colorado Avalanche completed an absolutely successful homestand that saw us win three of the four games, and pick up seven out of the maximum eight points. The Avs' overall eight-game point streak was on the line in this first game of a three-game road trip, and our first stop: Chicago. The Avs have had a knack for beating the Blackhawks over the years, mainly ever since the two teams became division foes in 2013.

In this matchup, Trent Miner was in net against Petr Mrazek, because a) this game was the first in a back-to-back day set, and b) Scott Wedgewood is still injured from that game against Buffalo. So Miner got the nod, and he was doing pretty well at the very start. Even better, he received a bit of help in the first period from Juuso Parssinen, who struck first for the Avs at the six minute mark. The Avs continued to press, big time, but at the other end. Ilya Mikheyev (still don't now why the Leafs got rid of him) tied it up, and the assist came from You-Know-Who himself, Connor Bedard.

Game was tied at one after 20, and the second period saw the Avs on the power play early. A lot of close calls for the boys, but somehow, nothing was going in. Penalty was killed, but the Avalanche continue to go for that lead. Mrazek robbed us a number of times, but at the other end, Frank Nazar put one in and gave the Blackhawks their first lead. A few minutes later, Bedard appeared to have scored, but it was looked at for a distinct kicking motion. Ruling on the ice: kicked in, no goal.

It was still 2-1, and that's how the second period ended. In the third, the Avs had another power play, but the Hawks broke away shorthanded, and appeared to have scored--only for the puck to actually hit the crossbar and bounce out. Again, no goal. The Avalanche were still having problems getting anything else past Mrazek, but in the heart of the period, Bedard got his goal back. Yikes. So the wunderkind made it 3-1, and late in the period, Miner was pulled for the extra attacker. We were really trying to get something; against Buffalo, we had two extra attacker goals. Here? Zilch.

This was a very tough day at the office for the Avs. We outshot the Hawks 36-20. We were totally goalie'd in the Windy City. On national TV, too. So the Avs' point streak ends at eight games, and Parssinen's the only player who picked up a point for the Avs. Even so, he's showing why we made the deal to get him. So it's now time to start a new hot streak. We need to make it in to that Top 3 in the Central Division. We have 40 games left in our season. I think we can really make a lot of noise in that time span.

The Avs will be off to Minnesota next, and then the three-game road trip concludes in Winnipeg on Saturday. After that, it's a five-game homestand for the Avalanche, and it will start on Tuesday against the New York Rangers. We have a good chance to make a dent in the Central in our next two games. Let's take care of business!

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