3 Takeaways From the Avalanche’s 5-2 Win Over the Blackhawks

It has been an up-and-down start for the Colorado Avalanche. The good news is that they rolled into Monday evening’s matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks, having posted back-to-back 5-2 victories over the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames.

Things got off to a rocky start against a bad Blackhawks group, but the Avalanche found their footing and eventually overwhelmed their divisional foe. The end result was a – you guessed it – 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks.

Sloppy, Inconsistent Play

The Avalanche would be hard-pressed to live up to their dominant 2025-26 regular season, but they have been playing at a level that has come to be frustrating. This one was no different, a sloppy mess that saw them fall behind early.

The first goal by Wyatt Kaiser was a fluke; Cale Makar knocked the puck out of midair only to watch it bounce past Mackenzie Blackwood. The second goal came off a bad offensive zone turnover that led to a 2-on-1 goal from Roman Kantserov.

The first 10 minutes of this game felt ugly and awkward for the Avalanche. Thankfully, they got their act together quickly and left the first period with a 2-2 tie. Against weaker competition, getting away with these starts doesn’t really matter but starting like this against a good team will cost them.

The Middle-Six is Playing Well

The Avalanche caught up and eventually passed the Blackhawks because of the play of their middle six. The Avalanche erased the 2-0 deficit within 0:26 at the tail end of the second period because of their second and third lines.

Jaden Schwartz continues to be a slam dunk, netting his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Nazem Kadri continues to be hot, scoring two in this one and having goals in three of his last five games and points in four of five.

Kadri has been impactful on the power play (his second of the night came on the man-advantage) and he has 13 points in 15 games. Being able to play at this level gives the Avalanche flexibility down the middle and a strength at the position that so few teams have.

Blackwood Rounding Into Form

One of the things not getting enough talk has been the play of Blackwood of late. He got off to a slow start this season, much like the rest of the Avalanche. Over his lats four starts, however, we are seeing what we hoped for out of Blackwood.

He turned aside 21 of 23 on the night and even that is deceptive because the first goal was a complete fluke and the second was a 2-on-1 where it’s hard to expect him to make the save. In any event, it is his third consecutive start with only two goals allowed and his fourth consecutive start with at least a .909 save percentage.

Blackwood may not be the dark horse Vezina Trophy candidate that so many envisioned when he was acquired, but he is taking the reins in Denver and starting to find his groove. As the Avalanche continue to work out the kinks and remove the sloppy elements of their game, Blackwood’s play has been a difference maker.

Avalanche Building Momentum

The Avalanche have finally started to put together a bit of momentum and stacking points. This is their third win in a row – all of them 5-2 – and they’ve risen to second place in the stacked Central Division.

While this may not be the bell-to-bell dominant Avalanche of a season ago, they still have every piece of the puzzle. If anything, having to battle through a bit of adversity early in the season could be good for them as they build momentum and ultimately head into the playoffs.