CHICAGO – Nathan MacKinnon scored and set up a goal by Maxime Talbot in the opening 1 minute, 17 seconds, Semyon Varlamov finished with 54 saves for his third shutout of the season, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Colorado was outshot by 30 but held on for its third win in four games behind Varlamov’s 16th career shutout. The Avalanche improved to 7-3-2 in their last 12.
Corey Crawford finished with 22 saves for the Blackhawks, who had a season-high in shots and dominated the pace as the game progressed. However, Chicago was blanked for the third time this season.
MacKinnon, who won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL’s rookie of the year, scored 53 seconds into the game with his second goal in his last 22 games. He had 24 goals and 39 assists in 2013-14 as an 18-year-old, but only has seven goals and 17 assists this season.
After defenseman Johnny Oduya fell down, John Mitchell sent MacKinnon in alone and he opened the scoring on a rising shot.
Colorado made it 2-0 just 24 seconds later as MacKinnon got past Niklas Hjalmarsson and broke in alone on Crawford again. He skated to edge of the crease and slipped a short pass to Talbot, who buried a shot from only a few feet out.
The Blackhawks picked up their pace midway through the period and outshot the Avalanche 17-11 for the period.
Chicago dictated the play for most of the scoreless second, outshooting Colorado 20-5, but the Blackhawks had limited close-in, screened and rebound attempts, as Varlamov and his defenders managed loose pucks effectively.
Chicago’s best chance came 5:40 into the period during a power play when Varlamov stopped Bryan Bickell on a rebound of Brad Richards’ shot from the blue line.
Chicago’s Brandon Saad hit the post with a shot 10 seconds into the third. The Blackhawks had the puck for most of the period, but Varlamov continued to stop initial shots and Avalanche cleared loose pucks out of danger.
Saad poked a rebound under Varlamov with 2:17 left in the third, but the goal was disallowed because the whistle had blown.
