Scott Wedgewood shuts door as Avalanche blank Blackhawks

Cale Makar scored in the second period to back Scott Wedgewood's 22-save shutout as the visiting Colorado Avalanche edged the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Sunday for their ninth straight victory.

Chicago was blanked for the first time this season but stayed afloat behind a 25-save effort from goaltender Spencer Knight. Ryan Donato and Ryan Greene paced the Blackhawks with four shots on goal each. Colorado outshot Chicago 26-22 as the Blackhawks lost their third straight.

Wedgewood held off a steady push from the Blackhawks as they skated with an extra attacker down the stretch, stopping a Nazar attempt on a Tyler Bertuzzi feed from behind the net in the closing minute.

Colorado tallied the game's lone goal at 18:21 of the second period, capitalizing on a rare puck-handling miscue by Knight, which led to a Tristen Nielsen shot from the right circle.

Trailing the play, Makar corralled a long rebound in the left circle and beat Knight with a wrist shot. Nielsen, a rookie who signed with Colorado in late October after skating with the Avalanche in training camp, earned his first career assist.

The Avalanche outshot the Blackhawks 19-1 in the second period.

Wedgewood shined for the Avalanche on the way to his first shutout of the season and Colorado's second in as many nights. He was especially solid in the first period, making 11 saves while shutting Ryan Greene down on multiple scoring chances.

Trailing on an odd-man rush midway through the period, Greene was denied on a wrist shot from the slot. Connor Bedar forced a turnover in the Avalanche zone about eight minutes later, but Greene put a shot wide as he broke in on Wedgewood.

Bedard took a puck to the neck late in the second period but remained in the game.

Colorado went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Blackhawks were 0-for-2.

Chicago forward Jason Dickinson played for the first time since Oct. 30 after missing 10 games due to injury.

Sunday marked the first time since the Blackhawks' home opener Oct. 11 that they did not score first in a game at United Center.

--Field Level Media