Blackhawks beat Avalanche in OT, stay alive in race

[March 25, 2019]  Duncan Keith scored the game-winning goal 1:23 into overtime to carry host Chicago to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night, keeping the Blackhawks' slim playoff hopes alive.

The 35-year-old Keith denied Nathan MacKinnon on a one-on-one battle, then raced the length of the ice and slid in the game-winner for his sixth goal of the season.

The win pushed Chicago to 76 points in the standings -- five behind Colorado, which holds the Western Conference's second wild card, and three behind the Minnesota Wild and Arizona Coyotes.

Chicago and Colorado met Saturday in Denver, and the Avalanche climbed into the second wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 win.

Artem Anisimov notched a goal for the Blackhawks, who broke a three-game losing streak, won the season series 3-2-0 over the Avalanche and are 15-8-1 since February.

Both goaltenders -- Chicago's Corey Crawford and Colorado's Philipp Grubauer -- played back-to-back games for just the second time this season. Crawford made 19 saves, Grubauer 40.

Alexander Kerfoot scored for the Avalanche, who fell to 2-12 in the three-on-three overtime session, and had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Each team had a power play but failed to score in the first half of the first period. Grubauer made 14 stops, including a kick-save of a long shot by Connor Murphy that deflected off Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole, to keep the fifth meeting between the teams scoreless.

Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer (31) deflects the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Just like they did Saturday, the Avalanche used a five-on-three power-play goal to take the lead in the second period.

With Marcus Kruger and Jonathan Toews off, giving Colorado 1:29 with a two-man advantage, Tyson Barrie fired a point shot after a furious rally that MacKinnon kept alive by keeping the puck in the zone.

Barrie's shot struck Kerfoot in the right leg and caromed in at 15:26. The center's 12th tally was his first in 14 games.

Anisimov won a draw late in Chicago's second power play early in the third period. He slid the puck back to Brent Seabrook, went to the net and deflected in Seabrook's shot for his 14th goal to tie it 1-1.

--Field Level Media

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