CHICAGO — This was already going to be a difficult road trip for the Colorado Avalanche, with the two teams ahead of them in the Central Division standings looming.
Losing to the club at the bottom of the division certainly didn’t help.
Colorado created plenty, but Petr Mrazek made 36 saves to help the Chicago Blackhawks upset the Avs, 3-1, Wednesday night at United Center. Trent Miner made his first career NHL start in net for the Avalanche and stopped 17 of 20 shots in the loss.
“I think we dominated. Their goalie had a good night,” Avs forward Mikko Rantanen said. “That’s what happened.”
Rantanen nearly scored after stickhandling around Mrazek midway through the second period. The Avs had multiple other chances during the ensuing scramble, but the Blackhawks went the other way and claimed the lead. Frank Nazar put home the rebound of a Colton Dach shot and Chicago went ahead 2-1 at 10:17 of the middle period.
Avs coach Jared Bednar noted that while they did create the chances at the offensive end, the winning goal was the result of a turnover in the neutral zone and multiple forwards not defending the play well.
“I don’t think we gave up a ton of scoring chances,” Bednar said. “Our defensive conscious was good, but when we made mistakes, they were bad ones.”
Connor Bedard, the Calder Trophy winner a year ago, thought he had a goal to make it 3-1 late in the second period but it was ruled out for a kicking motion. Bedard got free on a rush in the third period and made sure that one counted with 8:06 remaining.
Colorado did dominate this game for much of the first two periods, but less so in the final 20 minutes when there was still time to complete a comeback.
“I think we had lots of chances and there’s ones that I wish I could have back,” Miner said. “(Mrazek) was lights out. He definitely earned that win. He was the best player out there today.”
Juuso Parssinen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the opening period. Parssinen collected the puck in his own zone, skated up the right side of the ice and flipped a backhanded shot under the crossbar behind Mrazek for his first goal since joining the Avs in a trade Dec. 28 from Nashville.
The Avs gave up a 2027 third-round pick as part of the deal for Parssinen, who had been in and out of the lineup for the disappointing Predators this season. Jared Bednar said the Avs liked how he played two seasons ago, and that wicked shot was a flash of Parssinen’s skill level.
Colorado has been searching for more depth scoring all season. The Avs have used 24 forwards, in part because of a litany of injuries but also because the call-ups from the Colorado Eagles have only played well in short spurts.
The Avs have used nine forwards who have also spent time with the Eagles — those players have combined for one goal and one assist in a combined 71 games played. Parssinen now has a goal and an assist in his first five contests with the Avs.
Colorado controlled most of the first period, but Bedard forced Samuel Girard into a turnover in the corner to the right of Miner and Ilya Mikheyev took the puck right to the net and finished with a nifty move at 16:18 to even the score at 1-1.
“We gave them life, and they played better and better as the game went on,” Bednar said. “I don’t hate our game. I didn’t love portions of it though, especially the ones that hurt us on the defensive side. Sometimes you just don’t shoot well and the goalie comes up with a good night. It can happen.”
FOOTNOTES: Jonathan Drouin did not play for the Avs, making it the 33rd game he’s missed this season because of a lingering injury he sustained on opening night. He had played in the past four contests. Drouin has missed about five weeks twice this season trying to recover from the upper-body injury, but coach Jared Bednar hopes he’ll play Thursday night at Minnesota.
Keaton Middleton could play for the first time against his brother, Jacob, in an NHL game Thursday night. They were teammates together for a year in the AHL (2018-19) with the San Jose Barracuda. Jacob Middleton has been injured, but returned to the Wild lineup earlier this week.
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