Avalanche Clinch First Playoff Berth With a 4-1 Win Over Blackhawks

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t just clinch a playoff spot Friday night. They did it with the kind of start that makes the clinch feel like a statement instead of a formality.

Colorado became the NHL’s first team to lock up a postseason berth this season by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at the United Center, opening a four game road trip with a performance that looked a lot closer to top seed hockey than slumping contender.

Martin Necas scored and added two assists, Nathan MacKinnon posted three assists, and the Avalanche got goals from Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri, and Valeri Nichushkin. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves.

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“I think if we just play like that, there isn’t many games we’re going to lose,” Necas said. “Just a strong overall game. … Just keep it rolling.”

The Avalanche entered the night 0-2-1 over their previous three games, and had dropped four of five overall. Coach Jared Bednar said the playoff clinch is only the first checkpoint, but he also made clear the team likes where it sits with plenty of schedule remaining.

“It’s a good start, a good start,” Bednar said. “We’ll be happy about that. I mean, we like what we’re doing right now. Obviously there are ebbs and flows to the season, but to this point of the season we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here. We feel good about the way we’re playing. Making the playoffs is the first step to where you want to go, and we’re pretty happy about that, (getting) 100 points and still a lot of season left to play.”

The clinch came with standings impact. Colorado moved four points ahead of Dallas for first place in the Central Division and became the first NHL team to reach 100 points this season.

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Friday’s game was essentially decided by how lopsided it looked early. Colorado outshot Chicago 20-5 in the first period, and the scoreboard followed. Necas opened the scoring at 13:19 of the first on a finish from the left circle after Nichushkin carried into the slot and fed him. Nelson made it 2-0 on the power play at 15:22 on a redirect in front after Cale Makar’s shot pass found him at the net.

Chicago’s best moment came in the second, when defenseman Wyatt Kaiser cut it to 2-1 at 6:48 with a shot between Blackwood’s pads after taking a feed from Ryan Greene.

“I don’t know if he was going to find me,” Kaiser said. “I just knew they were changing and we were kind of changing. So I just tried to jump in the middle to at least give ‘Greener’ some option. It landed on my stick. What a pass.”

Any hope of a third period push ended immediately. Kadri scored on the power play 36 seconds into the third after MacKinnon spun in front and made a no look backhand pass for the finish from low in the right circle. Nichushkin added the fourth at 8:34, scoring from between the circles after MacKinnon stripped Chicago defenseman Artyom Levshunov in the offensive zone.

For Chicago, the night was blunt. Coach Jeff Blashill said the Blackhawks did not match Colorado’s pace.

“We didn’t have it tonight,” Blashill said. “I thought they (the Avalanche) came out and played really, really well. They snapped the puck around well. They were skating. We weren’t skating. Too many times we were just kind of standing still, with and without the puck. Then you’re in a grind.”

Colorado’s clinch also comes with reinforcements potentially nearing return. Bednar said several injured forwards and captain Gabriel Landeskog are traveling with the team because they have a chance to return during the road trip.

As for the Avalanche’s mindset after becoming the first team in, defenseman Cale Makar framed it as a pivot from qualifying to positioning.

“Obviously you work all year for this,” Makar said. “Now it’s a positioning game, and we want to feel good going into the playoffs, so we have to just keep winning down the stretch here.”

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