Today’s News Clips Nov. 30, 2019

Chicago Tribune Duncan Keith will miss his 1st game in 3 seasons after exiting the Blackhawks’ 5- 2 loss to the Avalanche with a groin injury

Jimmy Greenfield Nov. 29, 2019

It would appear the Avalanche held off from having Thanksgiving dinner Thursday.

The Avs got on the board in the opening minute and scored five goals on their first 13 shots to beat the Hawks 5-2 before a season-high crowd of 21,822 at the United Center.

After taking three of four points from the Stars earlier in the week, the Hawks were eager to keep piling up points against Central Division foes. But they came out flat from the start to put a huge damper on the eagerly awaited home- and-home series with the Avalanche, which concludes with an 8 p.m. Central time start Saturday in Denver.

“I’m not sure the game plan changes (for Saturday),” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “We know exactly what they bring: They’ve got some speed, we have to slow them down, we have to be ready in transition. We have to manage the puck better. You feed their offense when you throw pucks away or turn it over in key areas, and we’re going to talk about shooting the puck because we could’ve generated even more offensively.”

To make matters worse, Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith injured his groin midway through the second period and did not return. Colliton said Keith won’t travel to Denver but he didn’t know the severity of the injury.

Keith — whose streak of consecutive games played will end at 189, dating to April 6, 2017 — sat out the last two practices for “maintenance days.” The Hawks were already missing Dylan Strome and Drake Caggiula, both out with concussions.

Before feeling too sorry for the Hawks, consider the Avalanche left the United Center with a convincing win despite being without three of their best players: Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky.

After the game, the Hawks recalled defenseman Ian McCoshen and sent forward Matthew Highmore back to Rockford. The Hawks acquired McCoshen, 24, from the Panthers on Oct. 22 for Aleksi Saarela.

The Hawks are now carrying 13 forwards and eight defensemen, including Strome and Keith. Caggiula remains on long- term injured reserve and isn’t eligible to return until Dec. 5.

“It’s an opportunity for guys to show they can do more for us,” Colliton said. “Every team in the league goes through it, and we’re going to go through it and we’ve got to find a way to get points anyway.”

It will be much harder without Keith, who at 36 has still been playing huge minutes. He was averaging 24 minutes, 27 seconds entering Friday’s game, nearly 4½ more minutes per game than any other Hawks defenseman.

“You’re so used to having him on the back end doing what he does,” Jonathan Toews said. “It’s almost like you take it for granted what he does offensively and defensively. Just how he makes the game easier on his own partner and everyone around him too. Hopefully he’ll be back soon ... definitely hurts a lot.”

On an afternoon without many bright spots, Patrick Kane contributed one. He scored a second-period to extend his point streak to 14 games, the longest in the NHL this season and tied for the third-longest of his career.

However, Kane contributed to the slow start. He tried to make an exit pass from behind the goal line but it went right to J.T. Compher, who took a few strides and sent a wrist shot toward the net. Nathan MacKinnon tipped it in past Corey Crawford to make it 1-0 just 59 seconds into the game.

Ryan Graves banged home a rebound less than three minutes later, and the Avs were in control.

Andrew Shaw fought Graves a couple of minutes later to try to spark the Hawks, which it did momentarily. They finally started to spend some time in the Avs zone, and when Ryan Carpenter forced a turnover and fed Zack Smith for his first goal of the season, the lead was cut in half.

“(Graves) clipped my knee a little bit and it obviously upset me,” Shaw said. “I was trying to see if I could get some energy going in the building.”

But Erik Gustafsson took the first of his two first-period minor penalties shortly after, and Calder Trophy front-runner Cale Makar buried a wrist shot over Crawford’s left shoulder for his eighth goal.

Valeri Nichushkin scored on a breakaway and Compher added a goal in the second period. Keith’s final shift came while racing to try to get back on the Nichushkin goal.

Once the Avs built their lead, they stopped trying to force the play, and as a result the Hawks ended up with a 36-23 shot advantage despite the relative blowout. It was just the fifth time this season — but the second game in a row — that the Hawks outshot an opponent.

Kirby Dach began the game on a line with Kane and Alex DeBrincat for the second straight game. He ended it on the fourth line with Smith and Highmore.

Dach finished with one shot on goal but bypassed at least two really good scoring chances in favor of trying to find a teammate. Colliton would prefer he shoots in those situations.

“It’s natural as a young player to defer, and it doesn’t help you,” Colliton said. “When you’re in a good spot to shoot, pull the trigger. A lot of our young guys can shoot the puck, so we want them to do that.”

Chicago Sun-Times Duncan Keith injured as Blackhawks hammered by speedy Avalanche

Ben Pope Nov. 29, 2019

A season-high crowd of 21,822 at the United Center witnessed a brutal momentum-killing Friday afternoon for the Blackhawks.

The 5-2 loss to the high-flying Avalanche, who the Hawks will immediately face again on the road Saturday, was best exemplified by one sequence halfway through the second period.

The play started innocuously enough, with Jonathan Toews losing an offensive zone draw. Then it turned weird, with husky Valeri Nichushkin — who’d scored only once in his last 93 games — blowing past Duncan Keith and Erik Gustafsson like an Olympic speed skater. Then it became backbreaking, with Nichushkin effortlessly burying his breakaway past Corey Crawford to give Colorado an insurmountable 4-1 advantage.

And later, it proved to be potentially destructive long-term: Keith never returned to the game, tweaking an apparently nagging groin injury while trying to chase Nichushkin down, and was promptly ruled out for Saturday’s rematch, too.

Jeremy Colliton said he doesn’t know when the Hawks aging top-pair defenseman could return.

“It’s opportunity for guys to show they can do more for us,” the coach said, sugarcoating. “Every team in the league goes through it, and we’re going to go through it and we’ve got to find a way to get points anyway.”

The issue is that the depth-guys-stepping-up narrative was already being used this whole week, as the Hawks replaced concussed forwards Dylan Strome and Drake Caggiula with call-ups Matthew Highmore and Anton Wedin.

Now they’re resorting to a defenseman call-up, too. Ian McCoshen, a taxi squad veteran acquired just last month from Florida, will come on the trip to Denver; either he or Slater Koekkoek will step into Keith’s spot Saturday. (Highmore was sent back to Rockford.)

“I’m not sure the gameplan changes,” Colliton said. “We know exactly what they bring: they’ve got some speed, we have to slow them down, we have to be ready in transition. We have to manage the puck better. You feed their offense when you throw pucks away or turn it over in key areas.”

The Hawks actually managed a significant advantage Friday on the shot counter — 64-42 in shot attempts, 36-23 in shots on goal — but those numbers failed to illustrate the speed and talent the Avs displayed.

The preseason Central Division favorites looked like they were playing on an entirely different ice surface than the Hawks’ sluggish defense. They took a 1-0 lead in less than one minute, and a 2-0 lead in less than four minutes.

“You give up a goal that early, it creates momentum for them and gets us back on our heels a little bit,” Zack Smith said. “So it’s always tough when they score that early. We got to be a little more resilient than that.”

The Hawks two goals were both bright spots: Smith finally scored his first since the offseason trade, and Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 14 games. But the bulging crowd was otherwise eerily silent throughout as the home team limped through its first throwaway game in weeks.

And while the Hawks try to adjust Saturday without their biggest defensive minutes-eater, the Avs might get Mikko Rantanen — one-third of their usual first line alongside Nathan MacKinnon (four points Friday) and the also-injured Gabriel Landeskog — back from a five-week absence.

Hockey is an unpredictable sport, but that would logically tilt the scale even more.

“You don’t want to sit on that game too long, so we got a chance to get it back tomorrow,” Smith said. “It’s not an easy place to play, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

The Athletic (Chicago) Six plays defined the Blackhawks’ loss to the Avalanche

Scott Powers Nov. 29, 2019

The Blackhawks did a lot right against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. Nearly every statistic reflects that.

They held a 36-23 advantage in shots on goal. They won the battle in shot attempts (59-40), scoring chances (31-22) and high-danger chances (13-10) in five-on-five play.

Despite all that, the Avalanche easily won, 5-2.

“It was a 5-2 game today, but I don’t think that was indicative of how we played,” Blackhawks forward Zack Smith said. “They didn’t have a lot of shots, but they play some good hockey over there. They transition the puck really fast and they’ve got some good speed. They just had grade-A scoring chances, a lot of screens. They made it really hard on (Corey) Crawford tonight. He had to battle through a lot of bodies to see the puck, so that was tough. They didn’t have many shots, but they play the right way.”

Here are the six plays that defined the Blackhawks’ loss:

1. The Avalanche are good. Even though they were missing some key players, they are still talented and quite fast. That said, the Blackhawks handed the Avalanche a few golden chances early. And as good teams do, the Avalanche made them pay.

On one early sequence, Patrick Kane gave up the puck in the offensive zone, then did so again in the defensive zone. On the second giveaway, he missed Duncan Keith on the outlet pass and the puck found J.T. Compher. He took a shot and Nathan MacKinnon redirected it past Crawford to put the Avalanche up 1-0 just 59 seconds in.

“I think they were just cleaner in the beginning and they found a way to get pucks to the net, and when you do that, you give an opportunity to go in,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “Crow didn’t see a couple of them. There’s a deflection off a glove but they give themselves a chance for the puck to go in.”

2. The Blackhawks were sloppy with the puck a handful of times early. Olli Maatta had already turned it over once exiting the zone, and shortly thereafter, Erik Gustafsson found Jonathan Toews with the puck to begin a breakout. Toews was unable to fully control it off the pass and the Avalanche jumped on him as he turned to move up the ice. The Avalanche won the puck and kept it in the offensive zone, and that led to a shot, a rebound and a goal by Ryan Graves.

The Blackhawks will need to be better prepared from the start if they’re going to fare better against the Avalanche on Saturday in Denver.

“I’m not sure the game plan changes,” Colliton said. “We know exactly what they bring: they’ve got some speed, we have to slow them down, we have to be ready in transition. We have to manage the puck better. You feed their offense when you throw pucks away or turn it over in key areas, and we’re going to talk about shooting the puck, because like I said, we could’ve generated even more offensively.”

3. The Blackhawks had a chance to get back into the game. Andrew Shaw fought Graves, the crowd was pumped, the team seemed to get pumped and Smith scored to cut the Avalanche’s lead to 2-1. Less than a minute later, Kane had a great chance on an odd-man rush, but goalie Pavel Francouz got the better of him and kept the Avalanche ahead. It might have been a different game if Kane scored.

4. The Avalanche put some additional separation between themselves and the Blackhawks not long afterward. Later in the first period, Gustafsson was called for interference on Logan O’Connor. Gustafsson had reason to be upset; it was technically interference, but it’s a call that is often let go as Keith probably had the advantage to the puck. Gustafsson went to the box twice in the game.

“Well, he’s trying to hold up and probably could have made a different decision,” Colliton said of the penalty. “But he wasn’t the only who made mistakes. There was quite a few out there and a few of them ended up in the back of our net.”

Cale Makar scored on the ensuing power play to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead. They scored their first three goals on seven shots, but it was difficult to blame Crawford for them.

5. The Avalanche put the game out of reach when Valeri Nichushkin gathered the puck in the offensive zone and took off. He beat Gustafsson within a few strides. Keith took a stab at the puck, but he realized he wouldn’t be able to defend skating backward. Keith turned and attempted to reach him from behind with his stick. Nichushkin was too far ahead, though, and beat Crawford with a backhanded shot. The Avalanche went ahead 4-1.

“That’s an offensive-zone faceoff which, first of all, they won,” Colliton said. “They won a puck battle and they won a race and we didn’t get much of a holdup on the faceoff, and then our two D are flat-footed and their guy was flying. We didn’t give up a ton but what we gave up was really good. Then they scored. Especially in the second period, we had a push at times and then all of a sudden it’s 5-1 and it’s difficult to come back then.”

It was also Keith’s last shift. He missed the remainder of the game with a groin injury. Colliton said Keith would at least be out Saturday. He had missed a few practices for maintenance days, and Colliton alluded to him dealing with something.

“That’s obviously what told him he shouldn’t play anymore,” Colliton said of Keith’s last shift, which ended with the goal. “But he’s been having maintenance days and obviously, we try to take care of it, and at some point, he just felt he couldn’t play.”

The Blackhawks have dealt with injuries lately, but none have been as significant as Keith’s. It’ll be interesting to see how the pairings and ice time are divvied up on Saturday. Colliton said shortly after the game they had yet to discuss a roster move, but later, they recalled defenseman Ian McCoshen and reassigned Matthew Highmore to the AHL.

6. The Blackhawks had their scoring chances, but Colliton thought they could have had even more. He didn’t specifically call out Kirby Dach, but Dach had a few noticeable shooting chances when he decided to pass the puck instead. It has been a growing trend for Dach as he’s had less than two shots on goal at five-on-five in his last four games. He had a total of 11 shots on goal over his previous five games. Dach is aware of it, too.

There were two instances when Dach opted to pass despite having what looked like a premium scoring chance.

“I kind of went through the same thing at 16 years old in junior a couple years ago,” Dach said. “There’s times when I’m passing up opportunities to shoot, and I think I only had seven goals that year. One thing I knew I had to work on over that summer into my 17-year-old year in junior was goal-scoring and shooting the puck more. Same trend’s kind of happening here and I’ve got to get rid of that as quick as I can.”

Blackhawks.com THREE THINGS: Tough Start, Energy Boost and Keith

Chris Kuc Nov. 29, 2019

The Blackhawks paid dearly for falling behind early to the high-flying Avalanche.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists to lead the Avalanche to a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday at the United Center. Colorado raced to a two-goal lead within the first 3 minutes, 17 seconds of the opening period and had the Blackhawks chasing the game the rest of the way.

"We didn't start the game at the same time as they did but when we did I think we played well," Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw said. "We had opportunities and we had scoring chances and I just think we weren't ready for the game."

Added Blackhawks veteran Zack Smith, who scored his first goal of the season midway through the first period: "It was a 5-2 game (Friday), but I don't think that was indicative of how we played. They didn't have a lot of shots (23), but they play some good hockey over there."

J.T. Compher added a goal and two assists and Pavel Francouz made 34 saves for the Avalanche. The Blackhawks got scores from Smith and Patrick Kane but it wasn't enough as goaltender Corey Crawford suffered the loss.

The Blackhawks fell to 10-10-5 while the Avalanche improved to 15-8-2.

'TOUGH START'

Maybe it was too much Thanksgiving turkey or the unusual 3 p.m. start time, but the Blackhawks came out a step slower than the Avalanche and couldn't keep pace.

MacKinnon and Ryan Graves hit Crawford with goals early on and after Smith cut the deficit to 2-1 midway through the first, rookie sensation Cale Makar made it 3-1 Avalanche after the opening 20 minutes.

"Tough start, obviously," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We were chasing the whole game and it's tough to play like that, especially when they have a lot speed. They have a lot of the ability to hurt you when you're pressing and down early. That happened a little bit where we were pushing and … with their speed they were able to create some odd-man rushes."

The Blackhawks came on strong in the second period and out-shot the Avalanche 19-7 in the frame but only had Kane's 13th goal of the season to show for it. The score extended Kane's points streak to 14 games during which the veteran winger has 10 goals and 13 assists.

"(When) you give up a goal that early it creates momentum for them and gets us back on our heels a little bit," Smith said. "So it's always tough when they score that early. We've got to be a little more resilient than that (and) bounce back. Whether it's after the first period or the second period, you've got to find a way. We got down pretty early and you tend to maybe take a few more chances and not make the right plays, so that was kind of the downfall."

ENERGY BOOST

Not long after the Avalanche took a 2-0 lead, Andrew Shaw dropped the gloves with Graves, who had tripped up the Blackhawks winger seconds before.

"He clipped my knee a little bit and it obviously upset me," Shaw said. "(And) I was trying to see if I could get some energy going in the building."

That did appear to be the case because Smith scored while the combatants were still in the box serving their five-minute fighting penalties.

"Smith answered the tone and got a puck in the back of the net," Shaw said. "We still kind of died again after that for a bit but I think we played a pretty decent game. I just think our start was a little slow."

Shaw, who had a cut on the bridge of his nose making it look damaged, was asked if it was broken during the fight.

"Ah, it's been broken so many times there's nothing left in there anyway," Shaw said as he moved his nose back and forth. "It wasn't a punch, it was (a) scratching or jersey burn."

TOUGH BLOW

The Blackhawks lost defenseman Duncan Keith to a groin injury midway through the second period and will not have him for Saturday's rematch between the teams. Colliton said the two-time Norris Trophy winner will not travel to Denver and that will leave a large hole along the Blackhawks blue line. Keith has not missed a regular-season game since April 6, 2017, a span of 189 regular season games.

"We're so used to having him on the back end doing what he does it's almost like you take it for granted the way he makes plays and what he does offensively and defensively," captain Jonathan Toews said. "He makes the game easier on his own partner and everyone around him, too, so hopefully he'll be back soon. (We're) not used to being out there without a guy like him."

After the game, the Blackhawks recalled defenseman Ian McCoshen from Rockford of the AHL and re-assigned forward Matthew Highmore to the IceHogs.

The 24-year-old McCoshen was acquired by the Blackhawks from the Panthers on Oct. 22 in exchange for Aleksi Saarela. In 13 games with the IceHogs this season, McCoshen had four assists.

"It's an opportunity for guys to show they can do more for us," Colliton said of Keith's injury. "Every team in the league goes through it and we're going to go through it and we've got to find a way to get points anyway."

The Athletic (Colorado)

The 2010s: And the Colorado Avalanche’s all-decade team is … ?

Ryan S. Clark Nov. 27, 2019

Merely stating that it has been an interesting decade for the Colorado Avalanche might be a bit of an undersell. Even in retrospect.

Remember how it all began? The Avalanche did not make a postseason appearance between 2010-11 and 2012-13 and were often near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Of course, 2013-14 provided a bit of hope because they won 52 games and captured the Central Division crown.

Even that success was short-lived. The Avalanche went on another three-year playoff drought that was earmarked by the 48-point season in 2016-17, which proved to be their worst in the salary-cap era.

These days, the dynamic has clearly changed. General manager Joe Sakic has constructed a roster fourth-year coach Jared Bednar has gradually molded and refined into one that has reached the playoffs in two straight seasons for the first time in more than a decade.

And as the decade draws to a close, the Avalanche find themselves in the conversation to be a long-term Stanley Cup contender starting this season.

Hundreds of players, from Andrew Agozzino to Greg Zanon, have played for the Avalanche since 2010. Some have stayed. Others have left. Which of those players — on a roster with three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender — would make the Avalanche’s all-decade team?

Let’s take a look.

Tyson Barrie, right defenseman: Barrie’s eight-year run was highlighted by the fact he was one of the more consistent point-producing blueliners. He finished with 75 goals and 307 points while breaking through the 50-point barrier three times in his career, including last season, when he scored 59 points in what proved to be his final year with the organization.

Matt Duchene, center: Duchene was a central figure in the opening half of the decade for the Avalanche with 373 points over 505 games for an average of 0.74 points per game. It was a higher average than that of Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Stastny. Duchene’s time ended in 2017 in a three-team trade with a return that has the potential to yield significant dividends for the future.

Erik Johnson, defenseman: The No. 1 pick in 2006 arrived in a trade with the St. Louis Blues during the 2010-11 season and has remained with the franchise since. He has become a top-pairing defenseman and an alternate captain who continues his climb in the all-time record books, ranking fifth in goals, sixth in assists and points and second in games played among players at his position.

Gabriel Landeskog, left wing: No Avalanche player had amassed more points during the decade than the 27-year-old captain, who has 423 points over 590 games. That was until this month when a certain teammate overtook him.

Nathan MacKinnon, center: MacKinnon, who has at least one point in all but four games this season, has 435 points over 479 career games, an average of 0.91 points during his time with the Avalanche. It is the third-highest average in franchise history among players with more than 100 games for the team. That and his 37 game-winning goals are the most of any Avs player this decade and are already third all-time.

Semyon Varlamov, goaltender: Varlamov became a mainstay in 2011 after arriving in a trade with the . He ranks second all-time behind Patrick Roy in both wins (183) and shutouts (21) and his .915 his save percentage is second among goaltenders with at least 100 games played. He left the Avalanche during the offseason to join the New York Islanders.

Denver Post

Nathan MacKinnon has 4 points, leads Avs past Blackhawks

CHICAGO — Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the 5-2 on Friday.

J.T. Compher added a goal and two assists, and Cale Makar, Ryan Graves and Valeri Nichushkin also scored as Colorado started fast against listless Chicago in the first of a home-and-home set.

Patrick Kane and Zack Smith connected for the Blackhawks, who have lost four of five (1-3-1). Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith left with a groin injury midway through the second period after logging 9:30 of ice time.

Pavel Francouz made 34 saves. The Avalanche scored on three of their first seven shots against Corey Crawford, who blocked 18 for the game.

MacKinnon posted his third four-point game of the season and continued to come through offensively for injury- depleted Colorado. The 24-year-old center has five goals and eight assists in a six-game points streak, and he leads the Avalanche with 16 goals and 23 assists in 25 games.

Kane extended his points streak to 14 games, with 10 goals and 13 assists during the run.

Makar, a 21-year-old defenseman, leads all rookies with 26 points in 25 games.

The Avalanche led 3-1 after one period as the Blackhawks came out flat.

MacKinnon opened the scoring on a deflection just 59 seconds in following a brutal Chicago turnover.

Kane’s soft pass off the backboards was intended for Keith, but instead drifted onto the stick of Compher, who fired from the left circle. MacKinnon, standing in front, got a piece of it.

Graves made it 2-0 at 3:17 from the left circle when he converted a rebound of Matt Nieto’s shot from the right point.

Smith cut it to 2-1 at 9:14 from the edge of the crease after Ryan Carpenter fed him with a backhand pass off the backboards.

Makar’s power-play goal, with 7:40 left in the first — and just 11 seconds after Erik Gustafsson went off for interference — made it 3-1. Makar threaded a screened shot from the high slot into the upper right corner.

Nichushskin blew past Keith in the slot, broke in alone and beat Crawford with a backhander at 9:45 of the second to make it 4-1. Set up by MacKinnon, Compher ripped a shot past Crawford from the right circle 1:41 later to complete a 3- on-1 break and extend the Avs’ lead to 5-1.

Kane, alone in front, lifted in a backhander with 4 seconds left in the second. After taking a feed from Jonathan Toews, Kane notched his team-leading 13th goal with Francouz sprawled on the ice.

NOTES: Chicago C Dylan Strome missed his second game under the concussion protocol. … Avalanche LW Andre Burakovsky didn’t play after sustaining an upper-body injury on Wednesday against Edmonton. … Colorado D Erik Johnson (upper body) sat out his second game after being cross-checked into the boards Saturday by Toronto and former Avs F Alex Kerfoot. Kerfoot was assessed a two-game suspension by the NHL on Monday for the hit. … Colorado coach Jared Bednar said All-Star RW Mikko Rantanen, who has missed 16 games with a lower-body injury, is close to returning and could play Saturday against the Blackhawks in Denver. … Avs LW Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) missed his 14th game on Friday, but has resumed skating. Bednar said Landeskog could join the team for a three-game trip next week. … Compher, from nearby Northbrook, Illinois, has five goals and three assists in 11 games against the Blackhawks.

UP NEXT

The Central Division rivals meet again on Saturday night in Denver.