Jonathan Toews’ goal in OT lifts Chicago Blackhawks over Colorado Avalanche

The Chicago Blackhawks have gotten back into a groove after going through a rare scoring slump, but they’re still having trouble keeping the puck out of their own net. And after blowing a two-goal lead, it looked like the Avalanche and goalie Semyon Varlamov would again have the last laugh.

“The last few games we haven’t had very many (power-play) opportunities, so sometimes you get out of sync”, Kane said. “So it’s nice to get that off our back and then have a little more confidence (down the line) against that team”. Corey Crawford has allowed 70 goals on 904 shots faced and Scott Darling has given up 21 goals on 228 shots. With 5:00 remaining in the period the Avalanche found their hero in defenseman Erik Johnson. With just over 2:00 left in the overtime frame the Avalanche took a too many men on the ice penalty for a bad line change which left head coach Patrick Roy fuming behind the bench.

Add to that the biggest difference from the earlier statistical comparison: the power play, where the Hawks are much better this year than they were last. Carl Soderberg got the best chance of anyone when he caught the puck up ice and had only Scott Darling standing between the net.

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, left, careens off Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, of Russian Federation, after Varlamov stopped his shot in overtime of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Denver.

“I don’t know if I expected to be a captain of the All-Star team but it’s pretty cool”, said Kane of the honor after learning about it just before the team’s practice Saturday at the United Center.

With 39 games played at New Year’s, the Blackhawks are two games from the halfway point of the season. Toews had another scoring outburst scoring 2 goals in game 7 and leading the team with 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists).

The Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals early in the first. The Avalanche are 8-3 in their last 11 Thursday games and 5-0 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.

Thursday, their offense came alive near the end of the first period as Anisimov became the first Chicago player to beat Varlamov this season. The Colorado netminder had 29 saves in a 3-0 win over the Blackhawks on December 15 and nine stops on Thursday before Anisimov tied the game at 1-1 with 1:28 left in the first period. Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan scored in the first period before Kane and rookie Artemi Panarin tied it in the second. Experience aside, this was a back-and-fourth series as no team was able to secure back-to-back wins until games 6 and 7, where the Blackhawks won by scores of 5-2 and 5-3. McLeod cut the lead 3-2 in the second period with his first goal since November 23. Avs winger Jarome Iginla did not score and remains one goal away from becoming the 19th player to reach 600 goals.