The Blackhawks landed a goal less than five minutes into the second period, the only goal for that frame.
The Blackhawks continued with two more goals quick into the third period, less than a minute apart. The Avalanche responded with another from Erik Johnson to tie the game.
Scoring concluded in overtime with a dramatic goal from Cale Makar.
THE GOALS
1st Period
7:43 COL (1-0) - Erik Johnson took a hard wrist shot from the blue line for a bardown goal past Marc-Andre Fleury, blocker side.
13:54 COL (2-0) - Alex Newhook landed a backhand shot from right in front of the net.
2nd Period
4:47 CHI (2-1) - Jonathan Toews redirected the puck into the net from a backhanded pass by Mackenzie Entwistle, after Entwistle's rebounded attempt.
3rd Period
2:18 CHI (2-2) - PPG Patrick Kane took a diagonal shot pass to Alex Debrincat who redirected the puck on a hard shot towards net, the puck sneaked past Kuemper's skate blocker side.
2:58 CHI (2-3) - PPG Patrick Kane, in line with the goal, passed the puck back to Alex Debrincat for a quick shot to get the puck into the net.
11:44 COL (3-3) - Erik Johnson shot the puck from the right-side boards, the puck made it through some traffic without being deflected and hit the back of the net.
Overtime
2:38 COL (4-3) - Cale Makar took the puck around the back of the net, gave a braking spin move to Kirby Dach and brought the puck into the net with a backhanded shot.
Final: Avalanche 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)
3 STARS
POWER PLAYS
Colorado: 0/2
Chicago: 2/3
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Colorado: Darcy Kuemper allowed 3 goals on 31 shots.
Chicago: Marc-Andre Fleury allowed 4 goals on 33 shots.
STAT OF THE NIGHT
Nathan MacKinnon continues his point streak, the longest active streak in the NHL, to 11 games (two goals, 16 assists).
NOTEBOOK
The Colorado Avalanche ended December with a 6-2-1 record, this is the 17th consecutive month the team has ended with a .500 or better record going back to February 2019. The Colorado Avalanche defensemen lead the NHL with 32 goals. Tonight's game marks Samuel Girard's 300th NHL game. Erik Johnson (606) passed Steven Finn (605) for second-most games played by a defenseman in franchise history. Mikko Rantanen snapped his point streak at seven games (five goals, nine assists). Mikko Rantanen leads the team in goals with 15. Cale Makar leads all NHL defensemen in goals with 14, also a personal career high.
On this day in Avalanche history (Jan. 4, 2016) - Jarome Iginla scored his 600th goal in a 4-1 win over the LA Kings, becoming the 19th player in NHL history to reach this milestone.
ROSTER REPORT
Bowen Byram returned to the lineup on Jan. 2 after missing eight games due to an upper-body injury. Byram's previous appearance was on Dec. 1 in Toronto.
INJURY UPDATE
Valeri Nichushkin is sidelined with an upper-body injury. Ryan Murray has been present at full team practice, but is still out with his lower-body injury. Stefan Matteau is expected to continue to be out for weeks while he continues to rehab a lower-body injury.
UP NEXT
The Colorado Avalanche return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 6 to start a three-game home stand.
LINE COMBINATIONS
Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Landeskog - 29 MacKinnon - 96 Rantanen
95 Burakovsky - 91 Kadri - 37 Compher
16 Aube-Kubel - 18 Newhook - 25 O'Connor
56 MacDermid - 17 Jost - 43 Helm
Defensemen
7 Toews - 8 Makar
4 Byram - 49 Girard
3 J. Johnson - 6 E. Johnson
Goaltenders
35 Kuemper
39 Francouz
