Kane, Blackhawks top Avalanche in OT

DENVER --Patrick Kane scored two goals, his second 41 seconds into overtime on a power play to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Saturday.

Kane scored while Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog was serving a double minor for high-sticking Connor Murphy with 1:12 left in the third period. Jonathan Toews used his stick to knock the puck out of the air before passing back to Kane.
"There were some great plays by some of my teammates and I think the power play] is starting to feel it," Kane said.
***[WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Avalanche highlights]*
Alex DeBrincat scored and Collin Delia made 30 saves for the Blackhawks (15-20-6), who are 5-1-0 in their past six games heading into the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.
"He was good again," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said of Delia, who is 3-0-0 with a .957 save percentage. "He's doing what we need and giving us a chance to win, so happy for him."

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for the Avalanche (19-13-7), who have lost four straight (0-3-1) and eight of their past 10 (2-6-2).
"You take eight minutes of penalties in the last [fourteen] minutes of the game, tough to win," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
The Avalanche killed a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:22 early in the third period before Landeskog was called for the double minor.
"I didn't like those penalties by our team," Bednar said. "We hit a guy from behind, you kind of give him a shot in the (defensive) zone, it's a penalty. We get a guy high in the last minute of the game, an accidental high stick (by Carl Soderberg) when we're already killing a penalty. They're not good."
DeBrincat gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 1:46 of the first period on the power play, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Kane.

Kane made it 2-0 at 9:38, taking a pass from Anisimov for a one-timer on a 3-on-2. He and his linemates Dylan Strome (two assists) and Anisimov combined for two goals and four assists.
"I think our line has been playing really well lately," Kane said. "It's fun to play with these guys and I think there's another level to get to."
Rantanen cut it to 2-1 at 17:04 with a power-play goal off a pass from Tyson Barrie. Barrie's assist was his 208th in the NHL, moving him past John-Michael Liles for the most by a defenseman in Avalanche history.
MacKinnon tied it 2-2 at 18:21 of the second period, scoring on a slap shot from the blue line on a delayed penalty.

The Avalanche broke up their top line of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen for the first period but reunited them at various times in the second and third.
"I don't know that we got any better, any worse out of it, to be honest with you," Bednar said. "We bumped them back, moved it around trying to spark some guys."

They said it

"It means a lot to our team. It's a confidence builder, [Colorado] is an excellent team. Their first line is tough to handle, but we found a way to do it and we held their power play in check (1-for-3). Next time we play them, I'm sure it'll be another big test." -- Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton
"They were picking us apart a little bit on the offensive side of it and I thought we were doing the same to them for a while. Lots of chances, both teams, which is not exactly how we want to play. We want to be dangerous offensively, but we've got to be better on the defensive side, both on the rush and in our zone." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

Kane has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in a seven-game point streak. He registered consecutive three-point games for the first time since Dec. 29-31, 2015. … DeBrincat has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak … Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger went 6-for-7 on face-offs in 8:33 of ice time in his return after missing four games because of a concussion. … Barrie needs two points to tie Liles (275) for the most points by a defenseman in Avalanche history. … Chicago went 2-for-5 on the power play and is 7-for-19 in its past six games after going 3-for-41 in its previous 14.

What's next

Blackhawks:Play the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium on Tuesday (1 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVAS)
Avalanche:Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-W, NHL.TV)