The patented Chicago Blackhawks late-season rally seems to be fizzling this campaign. On Saturday, they lost their third straight and have now lost six points in the standings chase for the wild card in the Western Conference.
On Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche handed the Hawks a 4-2 setback.
Alexander KerfootÊ had two assist for Avs – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves to get the win for the Avs.
“It was a good game, but I’m not really satisfied with how I played today,” Grubauer said. “We got the two points and that’s all that matters. The game is in the past now and we got to move on to the next one. Tomorrow (in Chicago) is going to be equally as important as today. We need the two points.”
The six lost points would have pushed them ahead of the Avs in the race for the second wild card spot now held by the Avs.
Erik Gustafsson and Jonathan Toews had the Chicago strikes.
“From here on in, every game is a must win,” Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We have to have our best game of the year going forward.”
Meanwhile, the Avs are now in that last playoff position and need to keep winning themselves.
“We need everybody stepping up in these big games,” J.T. Compher said. “We’ve checked well and because we are playing such good defense, it’s leading to offense. Most of this group went through the same thing last year. We were fighting for a playoff spot for the last month or two. We know what it takes and this past week we’ve been putting together games that are good enough to get wins.”
Compher, Colin Wilson and Sven Andrighetto scored for the Avs.
Wilson scored on a two-man advantage.
“It’s a 5-on-3 so there’s a lot of room out there,” Alexander Kerfoot said. “We had a couple really good looks before that. He was open in front of the net and I tried to just feather it in there and he made a good play to finish it.”
Derick Brassard scored an empty-net goal to seal the win/
“A couple quick shots from Nemeth and Johnson, and then guys were just getting in the goalie’s eyes and trying to get tips, screens, rebounds,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It gets us two goals and we get a 5-on-3 goal as well, so it’s a recipe for success and we got to keep fighting to get there. That’s where most goals are scored, from the front of the net, and we got a few like that today.”
[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Avalanche highlights]
Corey Crawford made 21 saves in the loss.
“We played pretty solid for the most part,” Crawford said. “It’s still not good enough. We’ve got to bring a little bit more. But I thought we were actually not too bad. Had a chance late and lose it right there as we’re getting another guy on the ice. It was a pretty close game.”
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