Chicago Blackhawks Exact their Revenge on Colorado Avalanche

It had been a little over a week since the Colorado Avalanche ended the Chicago Blackhawks’ historic 24-game point streak, and the Blackhawks hadn’t forgotten it. It was on their minds going into their final game against the Avalanche on Monday, and they wanted revenge for being handed their first regulation loss. Three periods later, they got it with a 5-2 score.

Former Rockford IceHogs teammates Jimmy Hayes and Andrew Shaw opened the scoring for the Blackhawks with goals 57 seconds apart in the first period. Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook scored in the second period, and Jonathan Toews added to his two assists with the game-winning nail in the Avalanche’s coffin. The Avalanche tried to answer with two goals of their own, but they were held to 19 total shots on goal compared to the Blackhawks’ 32 shots.

The game also became another episode of “The Patrick Kane Show”, with Kane scoring his goal and two assists (on Hayes’ and Seabrook’s goals) for the night. Because Marian Hossa was injured at the end of the first period and didn’t return, he was put on the first line for the rest of the night and did double shift duty, playing 22 minutes on 31 shifts.

The win puts the Blackhawks past the 50-point mark in standings. Their game on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks is crucial: the top two teams in the Western Conference will meet to see who the best is. A win will send the Blackhawks far and above the rest of the conference, and only a major stumble will allow anyone to catch up to them.