Georgiev, Avs blank Chicago, 5-0

In Denver, Alexander Georgiev made 27 saves on Monday night in a 5-0 shutout of the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.It was Georgiev’s fifth shutout of the season, tied for the most in the NHL this season.

“Team is playing great right now, and you try to appreciate when things are working out for you,” Georgiev said. “Just like I said, if it’s 20 shots per game lately, I’ll take that and try to enjoy that.”

The Avalanche improved to 41-22-6 off their sixth straight win.

“I just thought it was a smart, disciplined hockey game from our guys in most areas really,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We had our breakdowns here and there, but for the most part, I think we stuck to the plan and executed pretty well. And we get some timely scoring. So we get the win, but it’s big to be able to do that. Now we’re right in striking distance again, and we got to come out and repeat it against a really good team in [the Pittsburgh Penguins] on Wednesday.”

The Avs took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from Kurtis MacDermid.

“He was dangerous tonight. Missed the net on a couple coming downhill on the weak-side flank,” Bednar said. “‘Dermy,’ we got a little jolt out of the bench when he scored, no question.”.

Denis Malgin, who had a double on the night, scored in the middle frame to give the Avalanche a 2-0 advantage.

“I had good speed, I think, through the middle,” Malgin said. “I saw [Nichushkin]. I just dropped the puck and went to the net, and he made a really good move, kind of like faked it and passed it to me. And I saw the net was open and just put it in.”

The Blackhawks dropped to 24-40-6 on their second straight loss.

“I thought we skated with them pretty good in the first period, but I think their strength and speed kind of pushed us back,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “We had some chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t get that one to kind of keep our momentum going and keep us in that game. And then I think the power-play goal (in the second period) really kind of took the life out of our team tonight, and that third period we were trying. We were trying to skate early, but again, I think just us trying to press, we turned some pucks over, and that just fed their offense. They’re good team, and I think we did some good things against them, but we’re just not there yet to do it all game consistently.”