The high-water mark of the Chicago Blackhawks’ week ran straight into the best team in hockey on Friday night.
Less than 24 hours after ending nearly a decade of heartbreak in Minnesota, the Blackhawks returned home to the United Center and faced a Colorado Avalanche squad that was one point away from clinching a playoff berth. The result was never really in doubt. Colorado controlled the game from the opening drop and skated away with a 4-1 victory, becoming the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this season and the first to reach 100 points — for the fifth straight year.
For the Blackhawks, Arvid Soderblom was nothing short of heroic with 45 saves, and Wyatt Kaiser gave the United Center crowd something to cheer about in the second period. But on a back-to-back against the league’s best offense, this was always going to be an uphill battle — especially shorthanded in the lineup.
Injuries Force Changes — Toninato Called Up From Rockford
Coming into Friday, the Blackhawks were already dealing with the fallout from Thursday’s win in Minnesota. Both Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Louis Crevier sustained undisclosed injuries during Thursday’s game and did not dress against Colorado. Coach Jeff Blashill said he does not expect either injury to be long-term, but neither player is expected to be in the lineup Sunday against Nashville either — both are day-to-day.
To fill the void, the Blackhawks recalled forward Dominic Toninato from the Rockford IceHogs earlier Friday morning. The 32-year-old has been excellent with the IceHogs this season, posting AHL career highs with 27 assists and 43 points in 52 games — both of which rank among Rockford’s top producers. In five games with Chicago this season, he has one assist.
Game Summary
The first period was a disaster territorially. Colorado came out firing on all cylinders and outshooting Chicago 20-5 in the opening frame — a number that tells you everything about how the Avs dominated puck possession.
Martin Necas opened the scoring at 13:19, putting away his 32nd goal of the season on a 3-on-2 rush. Valeri Nichushkin carried into the slot off a MacKinnon drop pass and slid it across to Necas, who one-timed a shot from the left circle that glanced off Soderblom’s arm and into the net. The goal gave Necas a career-high 84 points — surpassing his previous best of 83 from last season split between Carolina and Colorado.
Brock Nelson made it 2-0 on the power play at 15:22. Cale Makar wound up from the high slot, hesitated, and found Nelson in front — who redirected it past Soderblom for his first goal in 12 games.
The only reason it was a two-goal game heading into the intermission was Soderblom, who turned away everything else Colorado threw at him — including a Blackwood denial of a Burakovsky breakaway late in the period.
Kaiser got Chicago on the board at 6:48 of the second, burying his 6th goal of the season. Ryan Greene found him with a sharp pass in the high slot while Colorado was in the middle of a line change, and Kaiser skated in on a partial breakaway before beating Blackwood between the pads.
“I don’t know if he was going to find me,” Kaiser said. “I just knew they were changing and we were kind of changing. I tried to jump in the middle to at least give ‘Greener’ some option. It landed on my stick. What a pass.”
That cut it to 2-1 and gave the building a pulse. It didn’t last long.
Nazem Kadri restored the two-goal lead just 36 seconds into the third period on the power play — his 2nd goal since being reacquired from Calgary. MacKinnon took the puck in front and delivered a no-look backhand feed to Kadri, who finished from low in the right circle just 23 seconds after Ryan Donato went off for tripping.
Nichushkin closed it out at 8:34 for his 15th goal of the season, capitalizing after MacKinnon stripped Artyom Levshunov of the puck in the offensive zone and set up Nichushkin for a clean shot from the slot.
Soderblom’s Night
In a game where the score says 4-1, it could have been significantly worse. Soderblom faced 49 shots — a number that reflects how thoroughly Colorado controlled the play — and made some critical stops to keep Chicago within striking distance through the second period. The 26-year-old Swede has been fighting for ice time all season behind Spencer Knight, and Friday was a reminder of what he can bring when called upon.
“We didn’t have it tonight,” Blashill said. “I thought they came out and played really, really well. They snapped the puck around well. They were skating. We weren’t skating. Too many times we were just kind of standing still, with and without the puck. Then you’re in a grind.”
Colorado’s Machine
This was a healthy reminder of the gap between where the Blackhawks are and where they need to be. Nathan MacKinnon finished with three assists, extending his point streak to five games. His 18th three-point game of the season tied Peter Stastny (1981-82) for third most in a single season in Avalanche/Nordiques history — only Stastny (19 in 1982-83) and Joe Sakic (19 in 2000-01) have more.
The Avalanche now lead the Central Division by four points over the Dallas Stars and sit at 100 points — first in the league. This is not a team that is slowing down anytime soon.
Game Stats
| Stat | Blackhawks | Avalanche |
| Goals | 1 | 4 |
| Shots on Net | 20 | 49 |
| Power Plays | 0/3 | 2/5 |
| Faceoff Win % | 40.8% | 59.2% |
| Hits | 19 | 19 |
| Blocked Shots | 21 | 6 |
| Takeaways | 4 | 0 |
| Giveaways | 15 | 14 |
Next Game
Sunday, March 22 at the United Center — Blackhawks host the Nashville Predators, 2:00 PM CDT. Final meeting of the season between the two clubs. Chicago is 1-2-0 against Nashville this season.
