RECAP: Blackhawks Fall to Avalanche, 5-2

The Blackhawks opened up the first half of a home-and-home with the Colorado Avalanche with a 5-2 loss on Friday afternoon at the United Center.

CHI 2, COL 5
WRITTEN
Full Box Score
THREE THINGS: Tough Start, Energy Boost and Keith
VIDEO
HIGHLIGHTS: CHI 2, COL 5
RAW: Colliton on Loss
RAW: Toews on Loss
RAW: Shaw on Turnaround
GALLERY
GALLERY: Blackhawks vs. Avalanche
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Patrick Kane led all Chicago forwards with 21:25 of ice time and added a goals and three shots in the loss.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Zack Smith scored his first goal as a member of the Blackhawks with his first-period tally. It was the 95th goal of his career with the previous 94 all coming with the Ottawa Senators.
UP NEXT: Chicago and Colorado both head to the Rockies to complete the second game of the back-to-back on Saturday night in Denver.

GAME RECAP

The Avs got on the board in the game's opening minute as J.T. Compher quickly fired a loose puck towards the net in the offensive end, deflecting off Nathan MacKinnon and past Corey Crawford at 0:59 of the first.
Colorado would double the lead shortly after as Ryan Graves jumped on the rebound off a shot from the near point and beat a sprawled out Crawford for a low angle on the far side of the net at 3:17 of the first.
A strong forecheck paid dividends for the Blackhawks at the 9:14 mark as Ryan Carpenter muscled the puck back in the corner and quickly found Smith on the doorstep, where the veteran put home his first as a Blackhawk to cut the lead to 2-1.

Valeri Nichushkin picked a up a loose puck off a draw in his own zone and split a pair of Chicago defenders before beating Crawford glove side at 9:45 of the second for a 4-1 lead.
MacKinnon found his second of the night for a 5-1 lead converting a feed from Compher off the rush at 11:26 of the second.
Kane extended his point streak to 14 games in the final seconds of the middle frame, picking up the rebound off a Jonathan Toews shot from the point and beating Pavel Francouz with a quick backhander at 19:56. Kane has 10 goals and 13 assists in his current run.