Avalanche shut out Bedard, Blackhawks to stay undefeated

DENVER -- Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche remained undefeated with a 4-0 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena on Thursday.

The shutout was Georgiev’s first of the season and 14th in the NHL.

“It feels great. The game went pretty well for me,” Georgiev said. “I felt sharp. I made some good saves. We cleaned up the rebounds pretty well. So, great effort, and glad we got to a good start here.”

Logan O'Connor scored short-handed for the second straight game, and Devon Toews had a goal and an assist for Colorado (4-0-0) in its home opener. Ryan Johansen, who was traded from the Nashville Predators on June 24, scored his first goal with the Avalanche. Tomas Tatar and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists.

“We're still fine-tuning our game, no question, but I think that all the guys are getting to know one another. They like one another,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They're all good teammates, and that goes a long way for our culture. Everyone kind of understands the high expectations. So, we're getting there, and I think it's a lot of fun to play that way, when you're on the attack for most of the night and you just do the right things on the checking side of it so you can get back on the attack.”

Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, was held without a shot on goal in 19:37 of ice time for the Blackhawks (2-3-0) in the finale of a season-opening five-game road trip. Petr Mrazek made 37 saves.

“I thought we skated well in the first 10 minutes, and then unfortunately they got a short-handed goal and then a power-play goal. And it seemed like we were chasing after that,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “They're very strong on their sticks, and they're a fast team. So, when we started standing still a little bit [in] the second half of the first period and trying to make plays doing that, they just gobbled us up.”

O’Connor gave Colorado a 1-0 lead when Andrew Cogliano sprung him for a short-handed breakaway at 11:46 of the first period.

“Scoring that early in the game on the penalty kill, it was definitely nice to start off the game for us,” O’Connor said. “[Josh Manson] made a great play to sort of take more time and space away once they were over the line and step up around the hash marks. From there, just read the guys in the rush already and figured we'd have the puck there, and ‘Manse’ and ‘Cogs’ both made great heads-up plays to get me going through there.”

Johansen made it 2-0 on the power play, knocking his own rebound out of the air at 18:41.

“He's had some really good chances. He's been in on a few of our goals,” Bednar said. “I liked the way he got it, like getting gritty and hungry at the net. There's a loose puck sitting there. He stays on it. That's what he can do.”

Toews extended the lead to 3-0 when he finished a pass from Valeri Nichushkin into the open net at 13:18 of the second period.

Nathan MacKinnon one-timed a feed from Tatar at 8:40 of the third period for the 4-0 final.

“Nate called for the puck, and I looked up. He was right there,” Tatar said. “These guys, they call for a puck, which is great, and it makes it a lot easier out there. And they can score.”

NOTES: O’Connor became the fifth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to score short-handed in consecutive games (Joe Sakic, Oct. 15, 18, 24, 1998;  Feb. 23, 25, 2001; Gabriel Landeskog, March 18, 20, 2013; Owen Nolan, March 31, April 2, 1995; Mike Hough, Feb. 11, 13, 1989). He also became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to get each of his first two goals in a season short-handed (Dan Hinote, two in 2003-04; Claude Loiselle, two in 1990-91). … Nichushkin extended his point streak to three games (one goal, two assists). … Georgiev is the third goalie in Avalanche/Nordiques history to win each of his team’s first four games, (Stephane Fiset, 5-0-0 in 1994-95; and Ron Hextall, 4-0-0 in 1992-93).