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Avalanche stumble in Chicago after discipline issues, spoiling Valeri Nichushkin’s big night

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A couple of breakdowns early Tuesday night and discipline problems late cost the Colorado Avalanche a winnable game in Chicago.

Tyler Johnson scored a power-play goal at 8:19 of the third period after back-to-back penalties on the Avs to propel the last-place Blackhawks to a 3-2 win at United Center.

Miles Wood, who was in the penalty box when Johnson scored, was angry with the call and ended up picking up an another minor penalty plus a 10-minute misconduct. The Avs took another questionable penalty in the final minute while trying to find a tying goal.

Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of goals for the Avalanche, but this will be one that got away. Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek made 35 saves, including 12 in the final period.

1. Nichushkin is one of the hottest goal scorers in the NHL, and he’s now on pace for 40 this season. He had one goal through 11 games to start this season. Then his wife, Svetlana, gave birth to Anna, the couple’s first child, Nov. 8. He now has 14 goals in the 19 contests he’s played in since. That’s tied for the most in the NHL since Nov. 9.

His nine power-play goals since Nov. 8 are comfortably the most in the league. Both of his goals Tuesday night came in the heart of the high-danger area in front of the Chicago net. Jonathan Drouin found him in the slot for a one-timer on the first goal, and then Nichushkin put in his own rebound after a Mikko Rantanen feed for the second.

2. Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Nichushkin’s first goal, playing catch with Drouin before the decisive pass. He now has at least one point in 16 straight games. That is a career high. He’s now four shy of Paul Stastny’s franchise record.

3. Alexandar Georgiev allowed goals on two of the first three shots he faced, and then he got rolling. The Avs dominated the early part of this game, but between the latter stages of the first period and first part of the second, Georgiev had to make a handful of great saves to keep this game tied at 2-2. He didn’t have much of a chance after the structural failure in front of him on the game-winner.

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