Avalanche hold on, defeat Blackhawks for ninth win in row

CHICAGO --The Colorado Avalanche held on to win their ninth straight game, 6-4 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday.

Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and an assist, Nazem Kadri scored a goal with two assists, and Cale Makar had a goal and an assist for Colorado (31-8-3), which is 14-0-1 in its past 15 games and one from tying the longest point streak in Colorado/Quebec Nordiques history (12-0-1 with three ties in 2000-01).
Pavel Francouz made 39 saves for his seventh straight win. He is 7-1-0 with a 2.29 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and two shutouts this season.
"I don't know what it is here recently, but they're just finding a way to get the job done," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. "It wasn't pretty at times tonight, but we'd get guys to make a play here or there to get us a goal. We weren't perfect defensively, either. We got caught napping a few times. But we're making plays to prevent goals. It's something new every night."

Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist, and Brandon Hagel and Erik Gustafsson each had a goal and an assist for Chicago (16-21-7), which is 15-12-5 since Derek King replaced Jeremy Colliton as coach on Nov. 6. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves.
"I think a lot of these good teams, these top teams that come in or have been on the road, we've played them pretty good, most of them," King said. "Tonight, the power play was a little sloppy to start, some guys were a little sleepy. We didn't get the start we've talked about over the course of however many months I've been here.
"And you can't do that against a good team. I do like the way we competed and stayed hungry and stayed in it. Made it exciting."
Landeskog gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:15 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play.
J.T. Compher made it 2-0 at 16:04 off a Tyson Jost pass from behind the net. Compher, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight).
"I think it was [very] nice that I could contribute tonight," he said. "I've had a lot of chances recently that haven't gone in. To see one go in tonight was nice. I think when I'm engaged in the game … means I'm playing a little more physical. Good things seem to come."

Landeskog scored his second power-play goal of the game to extend the lead to 3-0 at 1:16 of the third period.
Hagel made it 3-1 when he redirected a shot from the right point by Connor Murphy at 1:38, and Kane tipped a pass from Gustafsson 40 seconds later to cut Colorado's lead to 3-2.
Alex Newhook extended it to 4-2 at 2:54 when he received a backhand pass from Kadri. The rookie forward, who turned 21 Friday, thought he scored at 5:11 of the second period but Chicago successfully challenged for offside.
"I was pretty happy in the moment (when I scored in the second period), but to get it taken away, you reset and keep going," Newhook said. "I like to think the hockey gods had a bit of something to do with that, seeing it get disallowed on the birthday. To get one back is good."

Kane made it 4-3 at 14:00 for his second multigoal game of the season.
An empty-net goal by Kadri made it 5-3 at 17:58. Gustafsson cut the lead to 5-4 at 18:31.
Makar scored an empty-net goal at 19:47 for the 6-4 final.
"It's tough," Hagel said. "We've obviously played some pretty good teams, but we've got to find a way to win. No one wants to just keep losing and say, 'Ah, we played well, we played well.'"
NOTES: Colorado played without Nathan MacKinnon, who is expected to miss three regular-season games after the center sustained a facial fracture and concussion Wednesday against the Boston Bruins. … Chicago center Jonathan Toews missed the game after entering concussion protocol. … The Avalanche swept a season series (four games) from the Blackhawks for the first time since 2002-03. … The teams combined for eight goals in the third period, tying the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens (Nov. 27) for the most in any period this season. … Colorado's 14 wins in January ties the Columbus Blue Jackets (December 2016) for the second-most in a month in NHL history. The Boston Bruins (March 2014) and Penguins (March 2013) are first with 15. … Avalanche forward
Dylan Sikura
had one blocked shot in 6:57 of ice time after being recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Thursday.