Avalanche 3, Blackhawks 2 – Recap

The Hawks’ regular season finale saw them in Colorado to take on the Avalanche. The first half of the first period saw back-and-forth action, with neither team scoring. One second past the midway point of the period, though, Cody McLeod scored to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Both teams would get a couple nice looks the rest of the way in the first, though nothing got past either Scott Darling or Semyon Varlamov, and after twenty minutes, the Avalanche led 1-0.

The Hawks controlled the action to start the second and tied the game just over eight minutes into the period on a goal by Patrick Sharp. The Avalanche would get the game’s first power play after Bryan Bickell was sent off for hooking a little under fourteen minutes in. The Avalanche would convert 25 seconds into the man advantage when Darling was unable to catch a shot from Jarome Iginla. This would be the final goal scored in the period, and after two periods, the Avalanche led 2-1.

The Hawks came out for the third period looking to tie the game, but despite some nice play and nice looks early in the period, were still looking just under ten-and-a-half minutes into the period when Andrew Shaw and Cody McLeod were sent off with matching roughing penalties, leading to 4-on-4 play. The Hawks got some great play during the 4-on-4, especially from Marian Hossa, but the 4-on-4 ended without a goal from either team. The Hawks eventually tied the game with 4:40 left in the third on a goal by Brandon Saad. With just over two minutes to play, Marcus Kruger was sent off for tripping and the Hawks went to the penalty kill. With 33 seconds to play, Iginla would beat Darling to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. The Hawks would pull Darling in favor of the extra attacker, but would be unable to score again, and would fall to Colorado 3-2.

My picks for 3 stars:

★★★ Semyon Varlamov, G, COL (28 SV, 2 GA)

★★ Brandon Saad, LW, CHI (1 G)

★ Jarome Iginla, RW, COL (2 G (GWG))

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com

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