Andrighetto Scores Twice In His Return

After missing the last three contests with a lower-body injury, Sven Andrighetto made his presence known as he scored twice in his return to the lineup.
The Zurich, Switzerland, native recorded his fourth career multi-goal game and his second game-winning tally in the Colorado Avalanche's 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Pepsi Center on Friday.
Prior to his most recent battle from injury, Andrighetto was out for 28 games after he was injured in Colorado's contest against the New York Islanders on New Years Eve and returned on March 8. He played in the Avs' next eight contests but was unavailable for the last three.

"He has been working for a long time to get back, conditioning is not an issue, he is a hard worker off the ice," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar of Andrighetto. "He adds that speed to our game, an experienced guy now, he has been a pro for a number of years. What I like about him is he maintains his poise with the puck when the heat gets turned up.
"He just has a little bit of experience and confidence in his game that he can do that, so he is a nice addition to that line. He helped [Tyson] Jost and [Alexander] Kerfoot tonight, I thought all three of those guys were good and he got rewarded for it."
He played on the right side of rookies Jost and Kerfoot, and the forwards combined for three of the Avalanche's five goals.
The first tally came on the power play when Andrighetto received the puck from Samuel Girard at the blue line and carried it through the neutral zone and between two Chicago defensemen before finding twine on the nearside.

"Just tried to get as much speed as I could on the power-play breakout. Obviously, we have a one-man advantage, we have more room and I saw the room and I took it," said Andrighetto. "It is always nice to help the team win hockey games, that is what I am here for, like everyone else."
The Avalanche went 3-for-3 on the power play, the fourth time this season it has registered three or more power-play tallies.
"I think [Andrighetto] scored a beautiful goal there, that's one way to do it on the power play," said veteran defenseman Tyson Barrie. "I think we just kind of stuck with it, and we had a shooting mentality. There is no real secret, our power-play has been pretty good all year. You are going to go through ups and downs, and obviously it's not the time of year you want to go through a bit of a dry spell, but we worked our way out of it and we had three power-play goals tonight so that's big for us."
Colorado is 10-for-45 with the man advantage over its last 11 outings at Pepsi Center and has scored 61 power-play goals this season, the third most in the NHL.
Andrighetto has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 46 games this campaign and eight of those have come with an extra man.
"It's nice to see that [Andrighetto] had a really good game, he was probably our best player on the ice," said Mikko Rantanen. "He made two nice goals there, it's a lot of fun to see those guys and the whole team [have success]. I think we had four goals in four games and now we got a 5-0 victory before the road trip, so it's good for our confidence."
The Avalanche finished its season series against Chicago with a 3-0-1 record and was 8-for-14 on the power play in the four games.

BARRIE'S THREE-POINT NIGHT

Barrie scored and added two assists in the contest to bring his season total to 55 points, surpassing his previous career high of 53 he had set in 2014-15.
The Victoria, British Columbia, native's 13 goals on the season matches a mark he set in both 2013-14 and 2015-16, while his 42 assists top his previous career high of 41 from the 2014-15 campaign.
The defenseman's 55 points are the most by an Avalanche blueliner since Rob Blake recorded 56 in 2001-02 and his 42 helpers are the most by a Colorado rear guard since Ray Bourque registered 52 in 2000-01.

VARLY, E.J. UPDATES

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov left the game with 6:25 remaining after stopping all 30 shots he faced and defenseman Erik Johnson did not play against Chicago as he has a lower-body injury.
"Johnson went into the end boards last game halfway through, kept him out of practice yesterday because he was sore," said Bednar. "He tried it tonight and he was sore again, so he has a lower-body injury and he is day-to-day. I haven't talked to the trainers on Varly yet."
Netminder Jonathan Bernier denied all three shots sent toward him after Varlamov left the contest. The duo combined for Colorado's fifth shutout of the season and the first team shutout in franchise history.

OTHER NOTABLES

The Avalanche outscored the Blackhawks 17-6 through the four-game season series, including an 11-3 margin in two games at Pepsi Center.
Colorado improved to 27-11-2 on home ice this season, tied for the second-most home victories in franchise history. The Avalanche is 17-4-1 in its last 22 outings at Pepsi Center.
Mikko Rantanen recorded a goal and an assist on the power play and now leads the team with 33 points this season on the man advantage, which ties him for eighth in the league.
The Avs scored five or more goals for the 20th time this season, 13 of which have come on home ice.
Samuel Girard notched an assist on Colroado's first power-play goal and has 12 assists with the man advantage, tied with teammate Alex Kerfoot for sixth among league rookies.