If the Avalanche are going to make the playoffs, they need to win more road games, starting Tuesday in Chicago to open a two-game trip.
The GAME NOTES.
They've gone 3-7-2 in the past 12 road games and are 12-16-4 on the road this season.
"(The United Center) is a fun building for our guys," coach Jared Bednar said. "Even last year we played well in that building. We were energized. I think it's an easy game to get up for because the building has such a great atmosphere.
"The Blackhawks, it's a little bit of a rival of ours. We haven't played them a lot lately, so it should be an easy team for us to get up for, especially knowing how important the two points are."
The Avalanche won the only previous meeting this season, 6-3 at the Pepsi Center on Oct. 28. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each scored twice.
Colorado (35-24-6) is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Nashville at home to complete a 3-0-1 homestand. The Avalanche trail Los Angeles by one point for the second wild card in the Western Conference with one game in hand. The Kings are idle Tuesday.
Chicago (28-30-8), having a rare down season, lost three times on a four-game road trip and is 13 points behind the Kings.
MacKinnon has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak. Rantanen has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a four-game streak.
"We play well at home, and we have to play the same way on the road," Rantanen said. "It's different because the crowd is not behind you, but it's still the same game. We have to take the confidence from the homestand and play the way we did there. It doesn't have to be pretty."
Rantanen has 64 points (22 goals, 42 assists) in 64 games to easily eclipse last season's totals for goals (20), assists (18) and points (38) in 75 games as a rookie.
"We have good chemistry," he said of linemates MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. "Everyone's helping each other and it's a lot of fun playing with those guys. We help each other and make each other better. We have 16 games left and we have to have a good stretch and finish strong.
"We want to get in the playoffs. Nobody was expecting anything from us and now here we are, 16 games left and one point behind and one game in hand. We're in a good spot and we have to show everybody that we can do it."
The lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Nail Yakupov Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau Gabriel Bourque -- Dominic Toninato -- J.T. Compher
DEFENSE Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie Patrik Nemeth -- Samuel Girard Duncan Siemens -- Anton Lindholm
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jonathan Bernier