In another busy back-to-back weekend set the Colorado Avalanche concluded their road trip with another divisional foe in the Chicago Blackhawks. In the past this matchup has been a bit of trouble but Scott Wedgewood was up to the task, crafting his own shutout on the weekend with 22 saves in a 1-0 Avalanche victory.
The Game
Following their sluggish start last night, the Avalanche started this game with more energy and got their first shot on goal within the first minute but it didn’t result in much
momentum gained. It then took almost the rest of the entire period to get one additional shot on the board despite earning a power play. Chicago earned two power plays themselves but couldn’t score either so the first 20 minutes of play resulted in a scoreless tie.
Colorado made it a purpose to get more shots on goal in the second period and did just that outshooting Chicago 19-1 in the frame. The visitors also added two more fruitless power plays to their ledger, however. Cale Makar saved the day with just two minutes left in the period. He snuck over to the left side of the ice, corralled a rebound off of a Tristen Nielsen shot and fired the puck which hit off the left post and past Spencer Knight who was playing brilliantly up to that point.
Chicago woke back up in the third period putting 10 shots on Wedgewood and made it somewhat of a game again but the window to score was in the first period when the Avs were playing poorly. Chicago managed to keep the puck out of the net with Knight pulled for the extra attacker but no dice as Colorado walked away with yet another shutout in this 1-0 win.
Takeaways
Not so fast, Mackenzie Blackwood. After impressing with his own shutout just the night before, Scott Wedgewood upped his game and put his own goose egg up on the board. Maybe he won’t relinquish the net so soon after all. Having two goaltenders playing great is an excellent problem to have but the standard has now been set.
Shutting out an entire weekend back-to-back set is impressive and full credit goes to both Colorado goaltenders. The team in front of them didn’t quite earn their flowers in making it happen, though. This Chicago game wasn’t near as bad analytically as last night in Nashville but two putrid first periods were a theme. The goalies shut the door and allowed Colorado to get back to their game as time wore on. Good teams find different ways to win and having both goaltenders each steal a game is a welcome result.
It’s interesting that in both games the game winning goal came from a defenseman (Brent Burns and Cale Makar, respectively) and no forward scored outside the Nashville empty net goals. The power play also went 0/5 as it sinks back to 24th in the league with 15.7% on the season. While stringing together nine wins in a row equals tremendous results, there may be signs showing that the team is due for a little tuneup before some slumps begin to show up on the scoreboard.
Upcoming
After another couple days off, the plucky San Jose Sharks come to town for a 7 p.m. MT puck drop at Ball Arena on Wednesday, November 26th.
