RECAP: Blackhawks Shutout by Avalanche at Home

CHICAGO -- Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to nine games with a 1-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

It was Wedgewood's first shutout of the season and his ninth in the NHL. The Avalanche won 3-0 at the Nashville Predators on Saturday behind goalie Mackenzie Blackwood.

“Obviously huge,” Wedgewood said. “'Blackie' was unbelievable for us last night, had a good first period, stood there in the second and got the job done in the third. Tough weekend for the fellas. I think there was a little bit of frustration (that) crept into our game. We’re going to get everyone’s best here as we keep going with this record. You’re top dog in the League, and everyone is going to want to knock you down a peg.

“The guys found a way. It didn’t look great in the first (period). I think they found their legs in the second. I had to do my job for a little bit there and give them some time. We come out with two points, two big nights for my partner and I.”

Cale Makar scored for the Avalanche (16-1-5), who have points in 13 straight games (11-0-2).

“I think it’s a good confidence piece for us right now to be able to win these games,” Makar said. “Being able to win in all these different ways is good for us. But again, we want to keep building it at this point of the season.”

Spencer Knight made 25 saves for the Blackhawks (10-8-4), who have lost three in a row.

“I think if we repeat that performance, we’re winning lots of games,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “The other team is going to push back. That’s just the reality of life. But if you look at where we were to start the game, I thought we did an excellent job in our structure, excellent job of some of the things we talked about this morning that we didn’t do in Buffalo (a 9-3 loss on Friday). We had real, real, real chances in the first, I think the better of the chances in the comparisons between the two periods and didn’t score. But we stayed with it.”

Makar's goal came at 18:21 of the second period. After Knight made a save on a shot by Tristen Nielsen, the puck rebounded out to Makar, who scored from the left face-off circle.

The sequence began when Knight's breakout pass went directly to Nielsen in the slot. Nielsen's assist was his first NHL point in his fourth game.

“It was a great shot (by Nielsen),” Makar said. “I was just trying to drive for the rebound. Luckily it came far enough out that it was there. He made a great play, that low smart play, and got rewarded.”

Wedgewood kept the 1-0 lead intact with a save on Frank Nazar from in tight with 43 seconds remaining.

After being outshot 11-2 in the first period, the Avalanche outshot the Blackhawks 24-11 in the second and third periods.

“It was good,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We needed that period after the first, (which) was not very good at all. I thought 'Wedge' did a great job of keeping us in that game in the first period. And then we started to play the right way, a little bit more connected in three zones, much more competitive and harder in the battles and just led to better positioning and came up with more pucks in our touches. We started to spend more time in the offensive zone. We finally found a way to grind one into the net. Pretty solid third again, too, a little more back and forth in the third period. We’ll take it for a road game on a back-to-back.”

Chicago forward Jason Dickinson returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury.

“I felt better, for sure,” he said. “My legs took a little while to get back to where they should be. Reads were feeling pretty good, had a couple misses I’d like back, but that’s to be expected.

“We can be both happy with the process, not satisfied with the result. Would love for us to get the win, even scrap out a point. Divisional matchup like that, everything matters. It (stinks), but for the most part, that’s a lot of good clips that we can go back and watch and be proud of what we did because it didn’t feel like we gave up a whole lot, especially in the first and third.”

NOTES: Makar has three game-winning goals, the most among Avalanche skaters and all defensemen this season. … Wedgewood extended his winning streak to eight games, tying Philipp Grubauer (2020-21) and Jocelyn Thibault (1994-95) for the fourth-longest in Avalanche/Nordiques history behind Patrick Roy (11 games in 1998-99), Stephane Fiset (nine games in 1995-96) and Jonathan Bernier (nine games in 2017-18). ... Dickinson had one shot on goal, one block and five hits in 16:23 of ice time. … Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic played in his 200th NHL game.