Colorado Dominates Chicago in 4-0 Win

Avs take home opener, shutting out Blackhawks

Game 4 | 10.19.23
Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Denver, Colorado | Ball Arena

PREGAME

• No! I already wrote a whole game preview this morning! What do you want from me?? I’m only one man!

• Okay: one note… This is a divisional home game. So that usually means the Avs wear the third jersey with the triangular mountain logo. I don’t think they can wear it because it’s the home opener. I don’t actually know if that is a league rule or not, but I also think the home jerseys are darn near perfect so there’s no need to wear the thirds for a national audience.

FIRST PERIOD

• Good start by the Avs’ top line, but nothing to show for it.

• Aaaaaaand Alexandar Georgiev is here to play. What a toe save on Nick Foligno less than two minutes into the game. Good response by the Blackhawks after Colorado’s good start with some pressure of their own on the second shift of the game.

• Jack Johnson with a pair of shots on goal early on. Seems like the former long-time (short-time*) Blackhawk blueliner really wanted to set the tone against his former team.

• Great feed from Cale Makar through the slot to Tomas Tatar. Colorado’s new third-line winger didn’t look like he could handle the zip the all-world d-man put on the puck as it missed his stick for what would have been a wide-open look at the net.

• The Avs should expect a call from Gary Bettman regarding season-long suspensions for Ross Colton and Miles Wood for that crunching hit on Chicago’s only player Connor Bedard in the corner.

• 1-0 | Colorado (O’Connor/2) - If you read my game preview (and I know you did…), you saw I was all about Logan O’Connor’s shorthanded marker in Seattle. So you know that I was excited to see LOC bury a second shorthanded breakaway marker for the second time in as many games. Colorado wins the 2-on-1 puck battle along the boards with Josh Manson and Andrew Cogliano against Ryan Donato. Where the goal is created is below the blueline as LOC read the play and saw Bedard move too close into the boards inside the blueline to get the loose puck from the scrum. The problem for Chicago’s young superstar is Manson wins the battle clean and sends the centering feed to LOC who has nothing but open ice ahead of him thanks to Bedard’s puck watching and losing his defensive coverage. Boom. Another shorty.

• For a guy who went soooooo long between goals last season, it’s great to see LOC have such a strong start this year.

• 2-0 | Colorado (Johansson/1) - I have to say this: I feel bad for PP2 because PP1 is unreal. The skill and talent that the top unit displays is so impressive that I don’t know how much time the second power-play group is going to see this season. After all the puck movement and skill, it was a battle in front of the net swatted in by Ryan Johansson for his first in an Avs’ sweater that got the poor-play tally. This team can beat you in a lot of different ways. That much is clear.

• Without Peter Mrazek, the Hawks might be down five after the first period. Don’t forget that Colorado hit the post twice. I know that changes the rest of the period (I call that the Back to the Future effect), but still… that was some dominant hockey for three-quarters of the opening frame.

• 22 shots?? Most by any team in any period in any game this season. That’s good.

End of the 1st: Avs 2, Blackhawks 0
SOG: COL, 22-8
PP: COL (1/1), CHI (0/1)