Georgiev makes 27 saves, Avalanche blank Blackhawks in 6th straight win

DENVER --Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in their sixth straight win, 5-0 against the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena on Monday.

Georgiev has five shutouts this season, which is tied for first in the NHL with Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Darcy Kuemper of the Washington Capitals.
"Team is playing great right now, and you try to appreciate when things are working out for you," Georgiev said. "Just like I said, if it's 20 shots per game lately, I'll take that and try to enjoy that."
Denis Malgin had two goals and an assist, and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (41-22-6), who have outscored their opponents 27-12 during the winning streak.
Colorado moved into a tie with the Minnesota Wild for second in the Central Division, one point behind the Dallas Stars.
"I just thought it was a smart, disciplined hockey game from our guys in most areas really," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We had our breakdowns here and there, but for the most part, I think we stuck to the plan and executed pretty well. And we get some timely scoring. So we get the win, but it's big to be able to do that. Now we're right in striking distance again, and we got to come out and repeat it against a really good team in [the Pittsburgh Penguins] on Wednesday."

Alex Stalock made 27 saves for the Blackhawks (24-40-6), who have lost two straight.
"I thought we skated with them pretty good in the first period, but I think their strength and speed kind of pushed us back," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "We had some chances, but unfortunately we couldn't get that one to kind of keep our momentum going and keep us in that game. And then I think the power-play goal (in the second period) really kind of took the life out of our team tonight, and that third period we were trying. We were trying to skate early, but again, I think just us trying to press, we turned some pucks over, and that just fed their offense. They're good team, and I think we did some good things against them, but we're just not there yet to do it all game consistently."
Kurtis MacDermid gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period when his cross-corner dump-in from the point redirected in off the knee of Ian Mitchell. It was his first goal of the season (38th game).
"He was dangerous tonight. Missed the net on a couple coming downhill on the weak-side flank," Bednar said. "'Dermy,' we got a little jolt out of the bench when he scored, no question."
Malgin extended the lead to 2-0 at 6:17 of the second period, scoring past the outstretched glove of Stalock from below the right face-off circle after taking a return pass from Valeri Nichushkin on a rush.
"I had good speed, I think, through the middle," Malgin said. "I saw [Nichushkin]. I just dropped the puck and went to the net, and he made a really good move, kind of like faked it and passed it to me. And I saw the net was open and just put it in."
Rantanen pushed it to 3-0 at 10:54 with a shot blocker side from the right circle on a power play. He has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during an eight-game point streak.
"No. 1, he's in the lineup every night," Bednar said of Rantanen. "No. 2 is he's finding a way to get on the score sheet. It's a great year for him."

Logan O'Connor made it 4-0 with a one-timer from the right face-off dot at 13:33 of the third period, and Malgin chipped in a puck 14 seconds later for the 5-0 final.
"We are in a good stretch. I hope we can keep going and hope we can still keep getting better and better," Malgin said. "That's our goal."
NOTES: Rantanen has scored in five straight games. He has 47 goals this season, which is third in the NHL behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (58) and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins (48). … Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (six goals, 10 assists). … Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues left with an upper-body injury following the second period. … Colorado has scored at least one power-play goal in eight straight games, going 10-for-26 during that span.