Kane sends Blackhawks past Avs, 3-2, in OT

Patrick Kane’s second goal of the game came just 41 seconds into overtime to help the Chicago Blackhawks defeat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, in Denver.

“There were some great plays by some of my teammates and I think the [power play] is starting to feel it,” Kane said. 

The game-winner came on a power play.

Collin Delia made 30 saves to get the win; Chicago is 5-1-0 in their last six games.

“He (Delia) was good again,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton. “He’s doing what we need and giving us a chance to win, so happy for him.”

Once again, the Avalanche offense was centered on their top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen getting the strikes.

That lack of offense from across the bench puts too much pressure on the top line; combine that lack of distribution with bad penalties and the Avs were forced into a defensive shell for much of the third period.

“You take eight minutes of penalties in the last [fourteen] minutes of the game, tough to win,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said.

The Avs are now 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.

“I didn’t like those penalties by our team,” Bednar said. “We hit a guy from behind, you kind of give him a shot in the (defensive) zone, it’s a penalty. We get a guy high in the last minute of the game, an accidental high stick (by Carl Soderberg) when we’re already killing a penalty. They’re not good.”

Alex DeBrincat also scored for Chicago in regulation.

“It means a lot to our team. It’s a confidence builder, [Colorado] is an excellent team,” Colliton said. “Their first line is tough to handle, but we found a way to do it and we held their power play in check (1-for-3). Next time we play them, I’m sure it’ll be another big test.”

[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Avalanche highlights]

Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves in the loss.

“They were picking us apart a little bit on the offensive side of it and I thought we were doing the same to them for a while,” Bednar said. “Lots of chances, both teams, which is not exactly how we want to play. We want to be dangerous offensively, but we’ve got to be better on the defensive side, both on the rush and in our zone.”