Varlamov Shines In Chicago, Again

When Semyon Varlamov plays the Chicago Blackhawks, a strong performance by the Colorado Avalanche goaltender is almost a given.
He did it again on Tuesday night at United Center as the Avs keeper stopped 44 of 45 shots in a 5-1 victory. Colorado is now 8-1-3 in its last 12 games and has 40 wins on the campaign.

It was the third time that Varlamov has recorded 40 or more saves against the Blackhawks, and all of them have ended up with an Avalanche win.
"It was a tough game. Tough opponent. Playing Chicago is always hard, not easy," Varlamov said afterward. "They have great skilled guys like plenty of teams… We won 5-1, but if you didn't watch the game, you would say that was an easy game, but that was a tough game for us. I'm glad that we won today. Really happy with how the boys competed today."
The goalie now has 13 victories in 20 career starts against Chicago, and he's been at his best in the Windy City. In 13 games at United Center, the netminder has compiled an 8-3-1 record with a 1.91 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and three shutouts.
Varlamov faced double-digit shots each stanza on Tuesday, including 19 in the third period when the Blackhawks were trying to come back from a 3-1 deficit. Instead, the Avs added two goals late from Erik Johnson and Alex Kerfoot to seal the victory.
It was the eighth straight contest that Varlamov didn't allow a goal against in the third frame.
"I just try to play simple, try to find the puck all the time, every shot," he said of his mindset in the final regulation stanza. "It's hard sometimes, but it is what we do. The guys, they're blocking lot of shots in front of me, which is great. I like it."

There were plenty of things Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar appreciated about his club's performance, but failed clears that force more work on Varlamov and a tired defensive group wasn't one.
"There are a lot of aspects of our game I like, but getting in and out of our zone and some of the turnovers we had, I thought we fought it a little bit," Bednar said. "Varly had a big night, so relying on him, I don't like to see it, but he's part of our team and we'll take it. We'll take that performance from him every night if we can get it."
Varlamov has been a reliable workhorse between the pipes for Colorado recently, as he's played in 18 consecutive games, making starts in 16 of those. The 29-year-old entered Tuesday's outing with a 6-1-3 record, 2.06 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in his previous 11 contests.
He credits his defensemen for helping him stay focused during his own games-played streak.
"I just try to simplify the game. We talk a lot with the defensemen," Varlamov said. "Facing a lot of shots from the outside, which is important for me. The guys are protecting the middle, which is more simple for me, and the boys pick up lots of rebounds, it's really helpful. I like the way we're playing defensively right now. Today we gave up 45 shots, but most of those shots were from the outside and the guys did a great job in front of me."
Tuesday's victory gave Colorado 88 points on the season and a little breathing room in the Western Conference standings. The Avs are still in the first wild-card spot and are four points ahead and with a game in hand on the chasing Dallas Stars, who lost in regulation at the Washington Capitals earlier in the evening. The Anaheim Ducks, who hold the second wild-card spot with 86 points, were not in action.
The win also marked a 40-point improvement from a season ago when the Avalanche recorded 48 points in 82 games. It's the biggest year-to-year turnaround by an NHL club since the Pittsburgh Penguins went up 47 points from 2005-06 (58 points) to 2006-07 (105 points).

JUST KEEP STREAKING

The streaks are still alive thanks to a three-goal second period that saw Mikko Rantanen, Alexander Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie all score.
Rantanen's 26th tally of the season at 5:01 ended up being the game-winner and came after some nifty passing between him, Nathan MacKinnon and Barrie.
MacKinnon fed Rantanen the puck for the tally after holding it at the left circle and passing it between a Blackhawks player's legs.

"They find a way again tonight to get on the board," Bednar said of the goal. "That is what we need them to do. Our best players have to be our best players, especially with such a young group and inexperienced group. Right now, they've been doing that and that's why we're still in this thing."
Rantanen also finished with helper on Barrie's goal later in the period to bring his point/assist streak to a career-long seven games. It's the longest assist streak by a Colorado player since John-Michael Liles' nine-game run in 2010-11.
MacKinnon's assist on Rantanen's goal stretched his point streak to 13 games, which ties a career high that he set as a rookie in 2013-14. It was his 90th point of the season, becoming only the fourth different Avalanche player (10th time) to register 90 or more points in a season. Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg each reached the mark four times, while Milan Hejduk registered 90 once.
Barrie's goal and assist brings his point total to 52 (12 goals and 40 assists), one shy of tying his career high of 53 that he set in 2014-15. It also stretched his career-long point streak to 11 games--the most by a franchise defenseman since Steve Duchesne had one that reached 15 games in 1992-93 with the Quebec Nordiques.

MULTI-GOAL NIGHT

It was too long for Alexander Kerfoot, but the rookie final buried the puck.
The Harvard graduate ended a 14-game goalless drought with two tallies against the Blackhawks. It was his third multi-goal game of the season.
"It's obviously a long time without recording a point or scoring or whatever it is," Kerfoot said of not scoring since Feb. 18. "You just try to stick with it and contribute in any way you can."
Kerfoot leads Avalanche rookies with 17 goals, 21 assists and 38 points on the year, the latter number ranking 10th among all first-year players in the NHL.

SODERBERG SICK

Carl Soderberg missed his fourth game of the season on Tuesday due to being under the weather.
Soderberg had played in 69 of the Avs' first 72 contests, recording 15 goals and 19 assists on the year. The games he missed were opening night at the New York Rangers and both games in his native Sweden for NHL Global Series on Nov. 10-11, the latter two contests due to the birth of his third child.
Taking Soderberg's spot on the game roster and on his line with Blake Comeau and Matt Nieto was rookie Dominic Toninato.

WILSON RETURNS

Colin Wilson was back in the Avalanche lineup after missing over two weeks with a head injury and made an impact in his return.
He assisted on Alexander Kerfoot's goal in the second period that tied the game at 1-1 and began a run of five unanswered tallies by Colorado. It was his 11th assist and 17th point of the season.
Wilson had been out for the last eight games after getting hurt on March 2 versus the Minnesota Wild.
In his first outing back, he skated on the Avs' fourth line with Kerfoot and Gabriel Bourque. The forward also finished the night with three shots on goal and won 3-of-4 faceoffs in 11:47 of ice time.