The Blackhawks 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday stemmed largely from a solid start-to-finish team effort. Even so, rookie Connor Bedard come close to stealing the show at times. That included on a snazzy tic-tac-toe power-play goal by Tyler Johnson at 8:19 of the third period snapped a 2-all tie and lifted Chicago to the victory The Hawks (10-20-1) ended a four-game losing streak and avenged a 4-0 loss to the Avs in Denver in October. "Consistency is a word we've been looking for this year and I think tonight 60 minutes was really good," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "I think our guys were focused, which allowed us to play our physical game to the best we could." See video. Luke Richardson on Blackhawks 3-2 win over Avs Bedard, the NHL's rookie scoring leader, was at his pesky best. He assisted on goals by Ryan Donato and Lukas Reichel in the first period to boost his totals to 12 goals and 16 assists in 31 games. Petr Mrazek was strong again in goal in his resurgent season. The 31-year-old Czech made 35 saves and was sharp as the Avs pressed to tie it late. Donato added an assist. THE GAME-WINNER Bedard didn't hit the scoresheet on Johnson' game-winner, but he helped create it by carrying the puck over the Colorado line and dishing laterally to Nikita Zaitsev. Bedard in action. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyNzg1MTEzNzcwMDQyMzgw/usatsi_22058211_168401008_lowres.jpg] Bedard in action. Zaitsev fed Nick Foligno in the left circle. Foligno passed to Johnson at the right edge of the crease for his seventh goal. Bedard finished with six shots and missed on another attempt. He overshadowed Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, who was kept largely in check despite an assist that extended his points streak to a career-high 16 games. LOTS OF ICE TIME... Bedard had 21:56 of ice time and skated a monster 2 minute, 14 second shift late in the second period. He broke in and fired a shot off Alexandar Georgiev's shoulder to conclude it, then almost wobbled off the ice. That long shift was about all that bothered coach Luke Richardson. "There was one shift, and he was told when he got to the bench," Richardson said. "I think he just wants to do so well. He's not doing it to be selfish. Bedard was in the thick of things, as were most the Hawks on Tuesday. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMDM1MzA0MjA0OTY5NTM5/usatsi_22142950_168401008_lowres.jpg] Bedard was in the thick of things, as were most the Hawks on Tuesday. "He's trying to do it to help the team and try to be spectacular, where I think in this league you gotta' learn that's it's not going to be every shift, every time." GAME FLOW Colorado's Valeri Nichushkin scored power-play goals 2:03 apart in the first to give him nine with the man advantage and 15 overall. MacKinnon assisted on Nichushkin's second score. Donato and Reichel converted two of the Blackhawks first three shots on goal. Bedard, with a smart read and crisp passing, set up the two chances. Donato opened the scoring 7:29 in, jamming in a rebound of Zaitev's shot off the post. Bedard created the chance by knocking the puck away from Bowen Byram, retrieving it in the corner and passing to Zaitsev who swooped in from the right side. "It's a great play," said Donato, whose fifth goal of the season ended a nine-game drought. "I think when he plays simple and makes a lot of those types of plays we can knock a lot of pucks down and create something out nothing. "It's pretty special and I got the benefit of that tonight. I've been praying a lot for something to finally go in and I was lucky that it did tonight." Nichushkin scored both of his goals the doorstep and put Colorado ahead 2-1 at 11:25. Reichel tied it at 2 just 1:31 later, completing a 2-on-1 break with Bedard. The two broke in after Filip Roos' stretch pass ticked off Donato to Bedard. BLACKWELL RETURNS Forward Colin Blackwell, played for the first time since Feb. 27 and had 16:41 of ice time. The 30-year-old underwent hernia surgery in March. Blackwell played an assertive game and landed a big hit on MacKinnon with about 90 seconds left. Forward MacKenzie Entwistle, who sat out two games with an illness, also returned. Philipp Kurashev, usually Bedard's right winger, was a late scratch with an illness. Cole Guttman, who was set to be a healthy scratch, took his place. STILL D-PLETED The Blackhawks remained without top defenseman Seth Jones, on IR with a shoulder injury and Alex Vlasic, sidelined with an upper-body injury. Rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski rejoined the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday for their morning skate. The swift-skating 19-year-old didn't against the Avalanche, however, after returning from his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Monday following the death of his father, Larry.
