Zach Parise had two goals and an assist for the visiting Colorado Avalanche in a 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
Nathan MacKinnon collected a goal and an assist to reach the 100-point plateau, Cale Makar had two assists and Justus Annunen made 24 saves for the Avalanche for his first NHL shutout.
Petr Mrazek made 28 saves for the Blackhawks, who have lost five straight and 13 of their past 14 games.
Parise gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 17:58 of the first period. Jack Johnson pressured Anthony Beauvillier into a turnover along the left wall in the Avalanche zone and got to the loose puck in the neutral zone. Johnson took it to the top of the left circle before sending a no-look pass to Parise, who quickly fired from the opposite side.
Ross Colton scored on the power play to make it 2-0 at 6:56 of the second period. Mrazek stopped Colton’s initial shot from the slot but couldn’t smother it, and Colton collected the rebound and snapped it over the sprawled netminder.
MacKinnon picked up his 539th career assist on the goal, moving him past Peter Forsberg for third place in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history.
Parise’s second goal of the night pushed the lead to 3-0 less than a minute later. Mrazek came out of the blue paint to challenge Ryan Johansen driving toward the net from the right side. Johansen’s attempt to tuck it in stayed just above the goal line in the crease and Parise backhanded it in from the other side at 7:38.
Devon Toews extended it to 4-0 with two seconds left in the period. Cale Makar’s shot missed the net and rimmed around the end boards to Mikko
Rantanen along the left wall, where he fed a backhand to a pinching Toews for a quick strike from the left circle.
MacKinnon’s team-leading 36th goal, a wrist shot short side from the right circle, made it 5-0 at 17:32 of the third period.
–Field Level Media
