Chicago Blackhawks Get Shutout by Colorado Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon Reaches 100 Points | 02/29/2024

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, February 29th, at the United Center. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks lost 5-0 against the Avalanche… Justus Annunen made 24 saves in his first NHL shutout, and Nathan MacKinnon reached 100 points, joining the only other player this season, Nikita Kucherov.

Avalanche lineup against the Blackhawks:

Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Rantanen

Wood – Colton – O’Connor

Parise – Johansen – Drouin

Cogliano – Wagner – Kiviranta

Toews – Makar

Girard – Manson

Byram – Johnson

Annunen

Georgiev

Blackhawks lineup against the Avalanche:

Beauvillier – Bedard – Kurashev

Blackwell – Dickinson – Anderson

Foligno – Johnson – Raddysh

Donato – Entwistle – Johnson

Vlasic – Jones

Korchinski – Megna

Tinordi – Crevier

Mrazek

Soderblom

   Late into the first period at 2:02, Zach Parise gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season. Parise got a pass from Jack Johnson, who went past Anthony Beauvillier along the left-wing boards, skated into the Chicago zone with the puck, and passed into the slot… Parise then scored on a wrist shot.

 Ross Colton scored on the power play to make it 2-0 at 13:04 of the second period. He scored off his own rebound from the slot, then scored from in front. Zach Parise extended Colorado’s lead to 3-0 with his second of the night when he backhanded the puck into the crease from behind the net after he had carried it through the slot on a setup by Ryan Johansen. Pushing it 4-0 with just seconds remaining, Devon Toews struck his 11th of the season from the left face-off circle.

 At 2:28 of the third period, Nathan MacKinnon recorded his 100th NHL point of the season when he scored for the 5-0 final. The Avalanche added a fifth straight loss to the Blackhawks’ losing streak… Chicago won one game in their past 14.

Connor Bedard before taking on the Colorado Avalanche: “They’re loaded… MacKinnon is having an unbelievable season, they got Makar and all of those guys… We played them really well last time, obviously, it was a long time ago now but I think just playing simple and try to make them play defense as much as possible. Obviously, they’re going to make their plays and going to get their looks, but if we can limit that, that’d be huge.”

Notes:

– Petr Mrazek made 29 saves for Chicago

– Zach Parise scored two goals and had an assist, and Cale Makar recorded two assists.

  Makar’s first assist of the game gave him his 50th of the season… this makes him the first defenseman in team history with multiple seasons of at least 50 assists. He had 58 in the 2021-22 season.

– Nathan MacKinnon’s assist on Ross Colton’s goal had given him his 539th career assist, moving him into third place past Peter Forsberg on the franchise’s all-time list. He also became the first player since 1995-96 in Colorado Avalanche history and fourth in franchise history with 100 points in two or more consecutive seasons… MacKinnon follows Peter Stastny (six, 1980-86), Michel Goulet (two, 1982-84), and Joe Sakic (two, 1989-91), all have achieved this feat with the Quebec Nordiques.

ITR 40: Headed For A Repeat? Inside The Rink

Join Chris and Conrad as they get you up-to-date on the Stanley Cup Playoffs!
  1. ITR 40: Headed For A Repeat?
  2. ITR 39: Conference Finals
  3. ITR 38: Quenneville is a Duck
  4. ITR 37: Round Two
  5. ITR 36: Coaching Carousel


Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Stuart Skinner

Opinion: Oilers’ Stuart Skinner Showing Some Steadiness Between the Pipes

When it comes to Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, one never knows what they are going to get. On one hand, one might see a version of Skinner, 26, who stands tall, comes up with big saves, does not get out of position, and does not allow soft goals. When this version of Skinner is […]

Read More

3 Takeaways From The Florida Panthers & Carolina Hurricanes Game 5 | 05/28/2025

“Big players make big plays at the biggest moments when you need them too.” That’s what Sam Reinhart had to say about his captain, Sasha Barkov, in his post-game interview. The Cats rallied from a disappointing first period to score three unanswered goals in the second. The eventual game winner scored by Verhaeghe developed from […]

Read More
Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers Playoff Thoughts: Round 3, Game 5

Happy belated 9th Birthday, Ben Stelter. Tuesday night’s win was for you. We’re just one win away from a second straight Finals appearance. We always wish Ben were still with us and imagine how joyful he’d be to watch the Edmonton Oilers in these Playoff runs the last couple of years. A really nice gesture […]

Read More