Avalanche erase 2-0 deficit, beat Blackhawks 5-2 as Kane exits injured

CHICAGO — The Colorado Avalanche did not panic when the first shot of the night found their net, or when the second followed minutes later. They kept pressing, and by the end of the first period a game that had looked like a Chicago rout was tied. By the end of the second, Colorado led. By the end of the third, the comeback was complete.

Nazem Kadri and Jaden Schwartz scored two goals each, T.J. Hughes added two assists, Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves, and the Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 at United Center on Monday night, rallying from 2-0 down with five straight goals for a third consecutive victory.

Colorado improved to 9-5-1. Chicago fell to 4-10-1, its third straight loss and sixth defeat in seven games. The night also brought a worrying blow for the Blackhawks: veteran forward Patrick Kane left in the second period with an upper-body injury, did not return, and was later ruled out for Chicago's next two games.

A fast Chicago start

Chicago could hardly have asked for a better opening. Just 57 seconds into the game, defenseman Wyatt Kaiser fired a long wrist shot from inside the blue line that deflected off Colorado defenseman Cale Makar's stick and past Blackwood.

The Blackhawks doubled the lead at 7:05 of the first period. Connor Bedard carried the puck into the zone on the left side and fed Roman Kantserov on a two-on-one break. Kantserov, dropping to one knee in the right face-off circle, one-timed the pass past Blackwood for 2-0.

Twenty-six seconds that changed the game

Colorado thought it had scored at 13:22 of the first period, when Martin Necas redirected a Devon Toews shot. Chicago successfully challenged for goaltender interference against Gabriel Landeskog, however, and the goal was overturned. A disallowed goal can deflate a visiting team. This one did not.

At 15:23, Kadri got Colorado on the board. Landeskog shoveled a sharp-angle shot toward the net, Spencer Knight made the initial save, and a diving Kadri poked the loose puck across the goal line.

"Yeah, I don't know, I played a little bit of Plinko there in the crease," Kadri said. "I just tried to give it some effort and poke it in. Got fortunate on that one."

Fortune lasted 26 seconds. At 15:49, Hughes fed Schwartz from the left corner, and Schwartz scored from the left circle to tie the game 2-2. Two goals, 26 seconds apart, and the shape of the night had changed. The first period ended level.

Kadri and Schwartz take over

The second period belonged to Colorado's two-goal scorers. At 13:38 of the middle frame, Kadri scored his second goal — the eventual game-winner — on the power play, tipping a Makar shot from the point past Knight. Nathan MacKinnon earned the secondary assist, and Colorado led 3-2.

Then, with the period almost over, Schwartz struck again. With 10.6 seconds left in the second — at 19:49 — Sam Malinski's wrist shot from just inside the blue line deflected off Schwartz's stick in front and through Knight's five-hole. Hughes earned his second assist on the play. Colorado went to the second intermission ahead 4-2, and the United Center, so loud in the first seven minutes, had gone quiet.

The period also brought the injury that overshadowed the scoreline for Chicago. Kane's last shift ended at 14:53 of the second period. He played 10:20 in total, did not return for the third period, and the team soon announced he would not return to the game. Afterward, Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill confirmed the upper-body injury would keep Kane out for the next two games.

"He's going to miss the next couple of games, for sure," Blashill said. "It's a loss, but again, this is the NHL, so you're going to lose guys and you have to find a way for other guys to step in."

Toews seals it, and what comes next

Chicago emptied its net late in the third period, chasing two goals in the final minutes, but the gamble lasted only briefly. At 17:38 of the third, Toews scored into the empty net, capping a night in which he also had an assist. The 5-2 final was set.

The numbers told a consistent story. Blackwood stopped 21 of 23 shots for Colorado. Knight stopped 24 for Chicago. Makar's assist on Kadri's second goal was his 384th career assist, tying Anton Stastny for eighth in Avalanche franchise history. Colorado also extended its winning run against Chicago to six straight meetings.

What Chicago builds on next will have to happen without Kane, at least for the next two games, as the Blackhawks head out on a three-game road trip starting Wednesday at the Florida Panthers, followed by visits to Tampa Bay and Carolina. Colorado, meanwhile, closes its road trip Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, carrying a three-game winning streak and a comeback that turned a two-goal hole into a statement win.