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Avs stay perfect on the road with SO win in Chicago

Oct 23, 2011 - 6:50 AM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Joakim Lindstrom scored the winning goal in the final round of the shootout, sending the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.

Semyon Varlamov stopped Viktor Stalberg, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the shootout before Lindstrom wristed one past Corey Crawford with the Avs third opportunity.

Rookie Gabriel Landeskog scored two goals -- including the tying goal with 1:48 remaining in regulation, while Varlamov made 34 saves to keep Colorado perfect on the road this season at 6-0.

Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist and David Jones also lit the lamp for Colorado, while Ryan O'Reilly added a pair of assists.

Marian Hossa, Toews, Jamal Mayers and Michael Frolik all scored, while Duncan Keith has a pair of helpers for Chicago, which got 20 saves from Crawford in defeat.

Trailing 4-3 in the latter moments of the third period, Daniel Winnik feathered a pass to O'Reilly at the left point to gain the zone. O'Reilly then found Landeskog all alone in the slot as three Blackhawks gravitated to O'Reilly, and he deposited the puck behind Crawford to the stick side.

Colorado opened the scoring at the 16:09 mark of the first period when Kyle Quincey accepted a pass from Shane O'Brien at the left point and flipped one on goal that was deflected in front by Stastny to give the Avs a 1-0 lead.

Chicago knotted the game at one just 46 seconds into the second period thanks to a careless play by Colorado. Erik Johnson collected the puck in the right corner and fired it up the middle looking for an outlet pass. Frolik stepped up to intercept the puck in the slot and wristed one low to the stick side past Varlamov.

"Every goal was directly our responsibility. ... We can't serve them up like we did," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said.

The Avs came right back to take a 2-1 lead at the 7:41 mark of the second period with some great forechecking work in the offensive zone. Milan Hejduk picked up the puck in the right corner and reversed it to Jones, who surprised Crawford with a quick wrist shot.

At 13:25, Landeskog picked up his first tally of the game with some excellent positioning in front of the net. Landeskog snuck in front and took a pass from O'Reilly behind the net and slid it in behind Crawford for a 3-1 lead.

Toews pulled the Blackhawks within one with 55 seconds remaining in the second stanza when Keith fired a shot from the point that was stopped by Varlamov, but the Hawks captain was on the doorstep to ram home the rebound for a power-play tally.

Mayers evened the game at three at 4:35 of the final period when he took a pass from Nick Leddy off the rush on the right wing and slapped one past Varlamov.

Chicago took the lead at 14:33 of the third when Keith accepted a pass from Patrick Sharp, wristed it on net with Hossa was floating through the slot and redirecting the disc past Varlamov for a 4-3 advantage.

Game Notes

Colorado out-hit Chicago by a 42-26 margin...The Avs third line trio of Landeskog, O'Reilly and Winnik were a combined plus-5...Chicago went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Colorado did not have any power play chances...Chicago will host Anaheim on Tuesday, while Colorado will travel to Calgary to battle the Flames on Wednesday.