The Colorado Avalanche (39-10-9) beat the Chicago Blackhawks (22-28-9) 3-1 behind a pair of goals from defenseman Cale Makar at Ball Arena on Saturday night. Makar finished the game with an empty-net tally to give the 27-year-old his 17th goal of the season. Colorado goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was not busy on the ice, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced.
First period
Connor Bedard scored his 25th goal of the season on the power play to give the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead at the 6:31 mark of the opening frame. The goal, assisted by forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen, would be the only excitement for Chicago fans in Colorado.
Connor Bedard – Chicago Blackhawks (25) pic.twitter.com/zX7mEFVWFb
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) March 1, 2026
Second period
Colorado would finally answer back to the Bedard goal at the 19:51 mark of the middle period. The back-breaking late goal, the first of the Makar goals, beat Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight, who had stood on his head for most of the first two periods as Chicago was outshot 24-9 in the first 40 minutes of action. The goal gave Nathan MacKinnon his 56th assist of the year and Martin Necas his 42nd assist.
MacKinnon’s feed to Makar for the goal shows their continued chemistry. Opponents will need to double team both to shut down that lethal combo. 🚨pic.twitter.com/KJmvq7SLFP
— Wire Report (@WireReportOrg) March 1, 2026
Third period
Gavin Brindley beat Knight at the 7:31 mark of the third period to give the home team the 2-1 lead at the 7:31 mark. The goal, Brindley’s sixth of the season, was assisted by defensemen Sam Malinski and Devon Toews.
The Avalanche finished off the Blackhawks with the aforementioned Makar empty-net goal.
Analysis
Chicago continues to be a one-man offense, as Bedard is clearly the only offense the slowly dying Blackhawks are getting on most nights. Bedard, left off Canada’s silver-winning Olympic team, is really the only hope fans have on most nights when it comes to any consistency. Frank Nazar has scored two goals in the last 33 games and is struggling mightily on most nights to even be noticed on the ice.
Knight was outstanding again, stopping 32 shots, but if you told fans it was 47 saves, it would have seemed correct. Knight was fighting through screens and busy covering up pucks his defensemen could not seem to clear in front of him.
The Blackhawks return to action today at 3 p.m. Central against the Utah Mammoth.