CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NOTES:
LAST TIME OUT
Score: Chicago (4) at Toronto (1) – Mon., Oct. 16 – Scotiabank Arena
CHI Goals: Entwistle (1), Perry (1), T. Johnson (3; PP), Raddysh (1; SH)
TOR Goals: Tavares (1)
Goalies: CHI – Soderblom (34/35, 60:00) TOR – Woll (27/31, 56:13)
CHI PP: 1/4; PK: 3/3
TOR PP: 0/3; PK: 3/4
Recap: The Blackhawks earned their second win of the season, defeating the Maple Leafs 4-1 on Monday in Toronto … Rookie Kevin Korchinski notched his first career NHL point on an assist … Tyler Johnson scored his team-leading third goal of the season, the Blackhawks’ first power-play goal on the year … Andreas Athanasiou tallied two assists, his first multi-point effort of the season … Corey Perry scored the game winner with MacKenzie Entwistle and Taylor Raddysh scoring the other two goals for Chicago … Arvid Soderblom stopped 34 of 35 shots for his first victory of the season … Chicago remained perfect this year on the penalty kill, going 3-for-3.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – COLORADO AVALANCHE
The Blackhawks face off against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday in the first of four matchups this season … Chicago went 1-2-0 against the Avalanche last season … The Blackhawks fell to Colorado in their last game on March 20, 2023 … Taylor Hall has 18 points (7G, 11A) in his last 14 games against Colorado, including three three-point contests and points in his last three straight against the club (2G, 5A) … Corey Perry has six points (4G, 2A) in his last 10 games against the Avalanche … Petr Mrazek is 4- 2-1 in eight career games against Colorado with a 1.69 goals-against average, .941 save percentage and two shutouts … He owns a 3-1-0 road record against the Avs, with both career shutouts at Ball Arena.
2023-24 Schedule/Results: HOME: Dec. 19, Feb. 29 | AWAY: Oct. 19, March 4
All-Time Record: 64-67-19 | Home: 37-28-10| Road: 27-39-9
Last Home Win: Jan. 12, 2023 (3-2) | Last Road Win: Dec. 21, 2019 (5-3) | Last Home Loss: Jan. 28, 2022
(4-6) | Last Road Loss: March 20, 2023 (0-5)
ACTIVE BLACKHAWKS VS. COL ALL-TIME
GOALS: Taylor Hall, 17; Corey Perry, 17; Nick Foligno, 6
ASSISTS: Taylor Hall, 22; Corey Perry, 21; Nick Foligno, 10
POINTS: Taylor Hall, 39; Corey Perry, 38; Nick Foligno, 16
TEAM NOTES
START ME UP: The Blackhawks opened their 97th campaign on Tuesday with a 4-2 win at Pittsburgh … This marks sixth straight season the Blackhawks will open the regular season on the road … Tuesday’s matchup marked the third time the two teams have opened a season against each other, with Chicago holding a 1-0-1 record through the first two … The Blackhawks and Penguins last met in a season opener during the 2017-18 season when Chicago logged a 10-1 victory on Oct. 5 at the United Center … The two clubs also played to a 5-5 tie to open the 1981-82 season on Oct. 7 at Chicago Stadium … Tuesday night’s game at PPG Paints Arena was the first time the two teams have opened a season against each other in Pittsburgh … The Blackhawks embark on five-game road trip to Pittsburgh, Boston, Montreal, Toronto and Colorado to start 2023-24 before returning to the United Center for the team’s home opener against Vegas on Friday, Oct. 21.
COMEBACK KIDS: The Blackhawks overcame a two-goal deficit against the Penguins en route to a 4-2 win on Oct. 10 … Last season, the Blackhawks recorded eight multi-goal comeback wins, good for second in the NHL … Of those eight, the team rallied from multiple goals in the third period three times, which was tied for third in the League … It’s the first time Chicago has earned three multi-goal, third-period comeback wins since the 2019-20 season, when they also posted three … The Blackhawks recorded three consecutive multi-goal comeback wins from Oct. 15 – 23 last season for the team’s first three wins of 2022-23 … Chicago became the ninth team in NHL history to post three or more consecutive multigoal comeback wins, and the first since Detroit did so during the 2018-19 season … Additionally, the Blackhawks were the fourth team in NHL history to overcome a multi-goal deficit in each of their first three wins of a season, joining St. Louis (3 GP in 2006-07), Detroit (3 GP in 1990-91) and the New York Islanders (3 GP in 1985-86).
BLACKHAWKS RECORD ON…
One-Day Rest: 1-0-0
Two-Days Rest: 0-1-0
Three+ Days Rest: 0-0-0
First Game of a B2B: 1-0-0
Second Game of a B2B: 0-1-0
BLACKHAWKS RECORD BY DAY
Monday: 1-0-0
Tuesday: 1-0-0
Wednesday: 0-1-0
Thursday: 0-0-0
Friday: 0-0-0
Saturday: 0-1-0
Sunday: 0-0-0
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO AVALANCHE (3-0-0) vs.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (2-2-0)
8:40 p.m.
Ball Arena – Denver, Colorado
ESPN / 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche takes on the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023-24 home opener tonight at Ball Arena…The Avs opened the season with a 3-0-0 road trip, winning in Los Angeles (5-2), San Jose (2-1 in shootout) and Seattle (4- 1)…Colorado is one of four teams that has yet to play a home game (Arizona, Chicago, Florida).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV / Radio
Thu, Oct. 19 CHICAGO 8:30 p.m. ESPN / 92.5
Sat, Oct. 21 CAROLINA 7 p.m. Altitude / 92.5
Tue, Oct. 24 at NY Islanders 6 p.m. Altitude / 950
Thu, Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh 5 p.m. Altitude / 92.5
Sun, Oct. 29 at Buffalo 11 a.m. Altitude 2 / 92.5
LAST GAME – OCT. 17
AVALANCHE 4, KRAKEN 1 – at Climate Pledge Arena
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 37-of-38 shots to lead the Avalanche to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena…Logan O’Connor tallied a shorthanded goal, Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen also scored, and Valeri Nichushkin added an empty netter.
SF: 28 SA: 38 PP: 0-2 PK: 4-4
QUICK NOTES
The Avalanche/Nordiques are 30-9-4 (.744) all-time in home openers, third best in the NHL…Colorado is 18- 6-3 (.722) in home openers since moving to Denver, which includes a 16-5-2 (.739) mark at Ball Arena. The Avalanche are off to a 3-0-0 start for the seventh time in franchise history. Vegas (4-0-0), Boston (2-0-0), NY Islanders (2-0-0) are the only other teams to win every game so far this year Colorado has the NHL’s fourth-best goal differential (+7) and allowed the fourth-fewest goals against (4). The Avalanche on Tuesday won their 14th straight regular-season road game dating back to last year, equaling the longest road winning streak in NHL history (including multiple seasons). Cale Makar reached the 250-career point mark on Tuesday night in Seattle, doing so faster than any defenseman in NHL history (241 games). The Avs have killed all 13 opponent power-play chances so far this year, tied with Seattle for the most shorthanded situations without allowing a goal Mikko Rantanen’s goal on Tuesday in Seattle was the 11,000th regular-season goal in franchise history. Alexandar Georgiev leads the NHL in wins (3-tied), is fourth in Sv% (.958) and seventh in GAA (1.30).
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – BLACKHAWKS
Tonight is the first of four meetings between the Avalanche and Blackhawks…The Avs finished 2-1-0 against Chicago last year (2-0-0 at home)…Colorado is 9-2-0 in its last 11 games against the Blackhawks and has won the last four matchups in Denver…Colorado is hosting Chicago in the home opener for the third straight year, the first time that the Avs have ever played the same opponent for three straight home openers…This marks the fifth time overall that the Avalanche will host the Blackhawks in the home opener, tied for the most of any opponent (also Dallas).
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. BLACKHAWKS
Oct. 19 vs. CHICAGO
Dec. 19 @ Chicago
Feb. 29 @ Chicago
Mar. 4 vs. CHICAGO
RECORD vs. BLACKHAWKS
THIS SEASON 2022-23 ALL-TIME SINCE ’95-96
O: — O: 2-1-0 O: 77-56-17 O: 61-33-11
H: — H: 2-0-0 H: 42-23-10 H: 33-14-6
A: — A: 0-1-0 A: 35-33-7 A: 28-19-5
GAME NOTES
NOT BAD FOR STARTERS
The Avalanche are off to a 3-0-0 start for the seventh time in franchise history…Colorado’s 3-0-0 road start is its best in 10 years and tied for its fourth-best away start in franchise annals…Colorado (3-0-0), Vegas (4-0-0), Boston (2-0-0) and the New York Islanders (2-0-0) are the only NHL teams to win each of their games so far this year.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Avalanche/Nordiques are 30-9-4 (.744) all-time in home openers, third best in the NHL…Colorado is 18-6-3 (.722) in home openers since moving to Denver, which includes a 16-5-2 (.739) mark at Ball Arena.
BEST RECORD IN HOME OPENERS
Team W-L-O PT%
Vegas Golden Knights 6-1-0 .857
Minnesota Wild 16-3-4 .783
Colorado Avalanche 30-9-4 .744
Florida Panthers 18-7-4 .690
Anaheim Ducks 20-9-1 .683
FAMILIAR FOE
Colorado is hosting Chicago in the home opener for the third straight year, the first time that the Avs have ever played the same opponent for three straight home openers…This marks the fifth time overall that the Avalanche will host the Blackhawks for their home opener, tied for the most of any opponent (also Dallas).
