Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Festivus, if you prefer. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend with family and friends. Safe travels if that is in your plans.
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The Avalanche went into the three-day break on a rare positive note, having ended a five-game losing streak Friday with a 2-1 overtime win in Chicago.
Colorado (12-20-1) hadn't won since a 3-1 decision in Toronto on Dec. 11 when Semyon Varlamov made 51 saves.
"This is the type of performance that we need to keep trying to repeat," coach Jared Bednar told reporters. "I would say that was a great effort, a great team effort from every guy. To a man, I thought we played the way we need to play.
"Too often this year we've been in circumstances where we should be taking advantage of it and haven't, and we wanted to make sure that we could try and break that and make a statement, try and start building something."
The Avalanche still haven't won at the Pepsi Center since Nov. 15, a 4-1 victory against Los Angeles. They've gone 0-7-1 at home since then while getting outscored 33-14 with three shutouts.
They'll attempt to break that streak Tuesday against Calgary when the NHL season resumes.
"We're still not in a great position in the standings, but we're going into the break with some positivity in our minds," said Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 25 seconds into the extra period. His previous goal, against the Maple Leafs two weeks ago, also was the winner.
"We get to enjoy Christmas on a positive note. It feels good. We didn't want to just sit around and be negative. Hopefully we can have a good stretch after (the break)."
Calvin Pickard had 38 saves for his first win since Dec. 8 at Boston. He might have started anyway, but Varlamov didn't make the one-game trip after sustaining yet another groin injury Thursday against the Leafs. He was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 18 shots in the 6-0 loss. Spencer Martin was the backup after his recall from San Antonio; he's been reassigned to the Rampage.
Jonathan Toews put the Blackhawks in front with a power-play goal at 11:52 of the second period. The Avalanche tied it on Mikko Rantanen's first goal in six games at 5:42 of the third when he deflected Tyson Barrie's shot past goalie Corey Crawford, who missed the previous 10 games to recover from an appendectomy.
The Avalanche had gone eight periods without a goal before Rantanen scored his fifth of the season.
"It's been tough," said MacKinnon, who assisted on Rantanen's goal and leads the Avalanche in scoring with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists). "We haven't been scoring any goals and we've been letting in a ton. It wasn't like we were hanging on all game. We were pushing the pace and getting good plays. Crawford played a great game and so did 'Pick', so we're proud of ourselves."