CHICAGO — For the second straight game, the Colorado Avalanche started slow and didn’t generate a lot of offense.
For the second consecutive night, it still didn’t matter for the hottest team in hockey. Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves Sunday night, including 11 during a lackluster first period by the skaters in front of him, and the Avs fended off the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0, at United Center.
Mackenzie Blackwood pitched the Avs’ first shutout of the season Saturday night in Nashville. Wedgewood matched him Sunday, marking the first time in franchise history the Avalanche has had shutouts in back-to-back calendar days.
“I told (Blackwood) to piss off,” Wedgewood said. “I give up nine one-goal games and he comes out and gets a shutout and laughs in my face. … Obviously we are proud of each other and every time we get in there, we are our biggest fans.”
The Avs have now won nine straight games, which is the longest streak in the NHL this season. They have points in 13 straight (11-0-2), which is the fifth-longest run in franchise history. They ran their NHL-best record to 16-1-5, and Colorado is now seven points clear of everyone at the top of the league standings.
The gap between the Avs and second place (Carolina and Dallas, tied with 30 points) is the same as the gap between those clubs and the team that is in 25th place (San Jose).
“We are going to get everyone’s best here as we keep going with this record,” Wedgewood said. “If you’re the top dog in the league, everyone is going to want to knock you down a peg.”
This game was scoreless for nearly 38 minutes until Cale Makar found the breakthrough for the Avalanche. Rookie Tristen Nielsen intercepted an outlet pass from Chicago goalie Spencer Knight and then put a shot on net from the right circle.
The rebound kicked towards the left circle, and Makar was able to score his ninth goal of the season with 1:39 remaining in the second period. It was Nielsen’s first NHL point in his fourth career game.
Nine goals and 29 points in 22 games for Makar leads all defensemen. It also puts him on an 82-game pace for 33 goals and 108 points, which would both be career bests.
One night after Avs coach Jared Bednar said his team was horrendous in the first period, they might have been even worse in the opening 20 minutes. The Blackhawks outshot the Avalanche 11-2, and one of Colorado’s shots was a dump-in from center ice by Nathan MacKinnon.
The Avs had a power play in the first period, but did not register a shot attempt. Just as Blackwood was in Nashville, Wedgewood was the star of the opening period. He made three or four excellent saves among the 11 to get the Avs to the first intermission unscathed.
“Our first was not very good at all,” Bednar said. “I thought Wedge did a great job keeping us in that game, then we started to play the right way, a little bit more connected in all three zones, much more competitive and harder in the battles.”
Colorado was much better in the middle period. It was certainly one of the Avs’ best defensive periods of the season. The Avalanche outshot the Blackhawks 19-1, suffocating a Chicago side that was coming off a 9-3 loss two nights ago to the Buffalo Sabres.
The Avs entered this game without four of the club’s top 12 forwards, and the missing offensive punch, particularly without Valeri Nichushkin, has been evident at times this weekend. The power play also had another unproductive day, going goalless in three extra-man opportunities.
Colorado entered the weekend as clearly the best team in the NHL at even strength and a top-3 outfit on the penalty kill, but the power play remains the one part of the machine that is not close to meeting expectations. The Avs began Sunday night ranked 24th in the league on the power play, converting just 16.3% of their opportunities.
The Avs scored four times on the power play Oct. 28 against the New Jersey Devils. They are 6 of 40 (15.0%) in the 11 games since, including 1 for 16 in the past five contests. Even if it remains the obvious weakness, it isn’t hurting their ability to keep rolling at the top of the NHL standings.
And it was another great night for Wedgewood, who has been one of the NHL’s best stories to start the 2025-26 season. He now leads the NHL with 13 wins, and is in the top five in both save percentage (.918) and goals against average (2.09).
Toss in Blackwood’s best effort of his four games, and the Avs’ goaltending is among the best in the NHL right now.
“It’s been incredible,” Makar said. “They are holding us in games. Tonight, (the Blackhawks) could have easily had a couple in the first, same as last night.”
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