Chicago Blackhawks lose sixth straight after 5-2 pounding by Colorado Avalanche - NHL Update
Just a few weeks ago the Chicago Blackhawks were top of the Western Conference, those heady days are well behind them however, on Tuesday, the Chicago Blackhawks lost their sixth straight game this time to the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 to drop down to sixth.
The Blackhawks who travelled to the Pepsi Center in Denver on the back of a five game losing streak faced the Avalanche who had their own five game skid and it was all set to become a tough night for both sides.
The game lived up to its billing in the second period but by the time the third period ended it had turned into a rout with Chicago facing the brunt of a clinical Colorado Avalanche offence.
The Blackhawks outshot Avalanche by 31-29 and in the third period had 12 shots to Colorado’s five yet could not beat goaltender Jean Sebastian-Giguere who made 29 saves during the game.
The Avalanche were highly clinical scoring three times from their five third period shots to take complete control and win by a comfortable margin.
The victory takes Colorado up to tenth in the Western Conference with a 27-25-3 record and just a single point separating them from eighth spot.
Forward Gabriel Landeskog scored twice during the game and was visibly excited by the win which ends a long run of disappointing results.
"It felt great," said Landeskog. "We knew if we stuck with it, we would start getting the bounces. That's what we did tonight."
For the Blackhawks it was just another disappointing result which sees them drop to sixth in the Western Conference with a 29-18-7 record and centre Jonathan Toews wants the run to end as soon as possible.
"It's not like we're enjoying this," said Jonathan Toews. "We're trying to fix the problem. No one's going anywhere. No one's running away from it.”
Adding further,
"We're looking each other in the eye. We're expecting every single guy to be better and pick up the slack and that's what we've got to do. We can't hide from these problems. We have to face them and deal with them."
Chicago took the lead early in the second period after a scoreless first. Brent Seabrook put the Blackhawks up by 1-0 just 31 seconds in.
It did not take long for Colorado to comeback. Three minutes later the scores were tied as Peter Mueller combined with Ryan O’Reilly to put the ball past goaltender Ray Emery.
The action was not over yet as thirty five seconds later Colorado took the lead for the first time as David Jones made it 2-1.
Patrick Kane equalised with a backhanded shot at 6:14 to level the score once again as both teams ended the second period level at 2-2.
The third period saw the Avalanche take the lead for good as Gabriel Landeskog, David Jones and Kyle Quincy each scored to end the game at 5-2.
The Blackhawks peppered Giguere’s goal throughout the period but could not break through the veteran goaltender.
Colorado will look to put together a string of good results now when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, February 10th while the Chicago Blackhawks face another strong challenge against the San Jose Sharks.
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