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With the final week of the regular season upon us, the Blackhawks started one final road trip out West on Tuesday night in Denver. The Hawks have already locked up home ice throughout the Western Conference Playoffs, so if you're looking for the definition of a meaningless regular season road trip, you found it this week. Joel Quenneville decided to give a few guys the night off, most notably Niklas Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford. That being said, we were treated to a pairing of Kempny and Rozsival tonight, and probably at least one other time this upcoming week. But whatever, these games mean nothing, so onto the practice that took place in Colorado tonight.
The first period looked exactly how you'd think it would look with one team looking ahead to the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week. The Hawks were completely uninterested in playing in the opening frame. The Avs out shot the Hawks by a 16-3 margin, but Scott Darling was able to keep Colorado off the scoreboard. Both teams had a power play opportunity, but nothing came of either opportunity. All in all, the first period was a potential cure for anyone suffering from insomnia that wanted to try and go to bed at 8pm.
As boring as the first period was (and it was boring, trust me), the second period did not disappoint. Artemi Panarin opened the scoring, on the power play, twenty-eight seconds in after a nifty pass from Patrick Kane. The Hawks followed up Panarin's goal with two more goals in the second by Hartman, and Kruger. Yes, that Marcus Kruger who “never scores.” With the game looking like it was all theirs, the Hawks fell guilty to taking their foot off the gas, and surprise, surprise, the Avs pounced on the opportunity presented to them. The Avs added two shorthanded goals, just over four minutes apart to cut the Hawks lead to one. As time wound down in the period, Scott Darling was able to preserve the Hawks lead at 3-2 after forty minutes of play.
To begin the third period, the Avs were looking to carry over the momentum they had built in the second half of the second period. Early on, it was mission accomplished by the Avs. Scott Darling was under attack from the moment the puck was dropped to start the third. The writing was on the wall. It was only a matter of time before the Avs tied the game. Finally, almost six minutes in, the Avs did just that. Throughout the period, the Hawks only had a couple of chances, but none were of the quality chance kind. The Avs however, kept their assault one the Hawks net going during the entire period. The only reason the Hawks had any chance of winning was due to the man in net. Darling was able to fend off the Avs in regulation, and get the game to overtime. The game winning goal didn't take long in overtime. Colorado had the only good chance, thanks to a Brian Campbell turnover, and they made the most of it. Erik Johnson scored just under two minutes in to give Colorado the 4-3 overtime win. Next up for the Hawks is a trip to Southern California, and a date with the Ducks in Anaheim on Thursday night.