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Blackhawks look to keep rolling vs. Avalanche

Feb 17, 2008 - 12:18 PM Colorado (30-23-5) at Chicago (26-25-6) 1:00 pm EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) - Entering the month of February, the Chicago Blackhawks' postseason aspirations were fading fast. Apparently, somebody forgot to tell the players.

The Blackhawks will hope to build off a pair of decisive road victories on Sunday afternoon when they host the Colorado Avalanche, who are one point out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

Chicago, which sits seven points behind Colorado, is 3-1-2 this month after winning just four contests in the entire month of January.

The Blackhawks closed out a seven-game road swing with a pair of five-goal victories over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien snapped an eight-game goalless streak with a two-goal performance in Wednesday's 7-2 triumph and rookie Jonathan Toews tallied twice and added an assist Thursday in a 6-1 victory.

The Avalanche are trying to avoid a third straight loss. Ryan Smyth returned in Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Blues and finished with a plus-1 rating and five shots on goal.

Colorado is still waiting for captain Joe Sakic and All-Star Paul Stastny to come back.

Despite playing just 46 games this season, Stastny still leads the club with 49 points.