Final
Blackhawks visit Avs looking to secure third place
Apr 11, 2015 - 3:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Blackhawks will open the postseason on the road, so Saturday night's contest against the Colorado Avalanche will be a good test for the club.The Blackhawks can finish no higher than their current third-place standing in the Central Division, where they trail the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators. Chicago could also slip into a wild card spot as it leads Minnesota by only two points, with the Wild holding a potential tiebreaker.
Minnesota visits St. Louis on Saturday afternoon.
The Blackhawks are coming off Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Blues. Andrew Shaw scored with 2:39 left to play and Corey Crawford yielded both goals on 25 shots for Chicago, which has lost three in a row, all by a 2-1 score.
"We've been close our past three games but it always seems we have some kind of breakdown in the third period that kills us," said Chicago forward Jonathan Toews. "We just didn't get to the net like we wanted to and it's tough to win against a team like St. Louis if you don't."
Crawford has been in net for each loss, but has yielded only seven goals over his past four appearances. He is 4-8-2 in 14 games (13 starts) against the Avalanche with a 3.10 goals against average and .880 save percentage.
Colorado won the Central Division last season, but will miss the playoffs this year. The Avalanche, though, have won two in a row and three of their last four.
The Avs topped the Winnipeg Jets 1-0 in a shootout on Thursday. Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Duchene scored in the tiebreaker and Reto Berra made 41 saves before stopping Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd in the shootout.
"It was a great night tonight," said Berra, who recorded his first career shutout. "I thought both teams played well."
Semyon Varlamov is expected to start Colorado's finale tonight and he is a solid 9-3-0 in 13 games (12 starts) against the Blackhawks with a 1.93 GAA, .946 save percentage and two shutouts.
Avalanche defenseman Brad Stuart sustained a leg injury early in the first period versus the Jets and didn't return.
The Avs have won two straight and five of their past seven in this series, but the Blackhawks have won each of their past two trips to Colorado.
- CHICAGO: 2
COLORADO: 3
Final
Apr 11 11:25 PM - CHICAGO: 2
COLORADO: 3
End of Regulation
Apr 11 11:25 PM - CHICAGO: 1
COLORADO: 2
End of 2nd
Apr 11 10:29 PM - CHICAGO: 0
COLORADO: 1
End of 1st
Apr 11 9:39 PM - CHICAGO: 0
COLORADO: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Apr 11 9:08 PM
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