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Sharp, Ladd lift Blackhawks past Avalanche

Nov 4, 2008 - 5:13 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd recorded two goals and an assist apiece as the Chicago Blackhawks scored four times in the third period en route to 6-2 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.

Defenseman Cam Barker also tallied and Troy Brouwer scored his first career NHL goal for Chicago (6-3-3), which posted its best start since the 2001-02 season.

Dustin Byfuglien, Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane collected two assists apiece and Nikolai Khabibulin finished with 24 saves for the Blackhawks, who picked up their third straight win.

The victory was especially sweet for Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who faced Colorado for the first time since his contract was not renewed following the Avalanche being ousted in the Western Conference semifinals last season.

"It's always different and I am glad it is over with," he said. "I have had to do it three times now. It's a tough game where it's like playing against your old buddies. (In the) same time, we mean business and we knew it was a big game for us. It was a big two points."

Ben Guite and Milan Hejduk scored and Peter Budaj turned aside 31 shots for Colorado, which lost its fourth straight game in regulation.

"This wasn't a very good game, I can tell you that," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. "The last 30 minutes were very hard to watch."

After Hejduk scored 2:13 into the third period to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 3-2, Sharp regained a two-goal advantage midway through the session by wristing a shot in the slot past Budaj.

Ladd extended the advantage to 5-2 with 4:12 remaining in the period with his second tally of the night, and Sharp capped the scoring 98 seconds later with his second goal of the night and third in the last two contests.

"We have played well in almost every game this year, and it's nice that we have strung together a few wins," Sharp said. "We need it before our big long road trip in a week."

"It's good because the first little bit of the year was frustrating because I couldn't do anything offensively," said Ladd, who has scored three goals in the last three games. He was held without a point in the previous nine contests.

Brouwer gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 advantage with 2:19 remaining in the second period.

Sharp wristed a shot which deflected off Brouwer as he skated toward the net. The puck trickled toward the crease and hit the right goalpost before the 23-year-old Brouwer tapped the puck into the net for his first career NHL goal.

"It's unbelievable," Brouwer said. "You always dream about it growing up - and I had big celebration planned - but I didn't really get to do it because I didn't know what to do."