No doubt about it, Semyon Varlamov was absolutely terrific Tuesday night in Chicago with his ridiculous 54-save, 2-0 shutout against a Blackhawks team with so many offensive weapons. Varlamov surpassed his previous career best for saves, 50, that he set in a 6-4 loss to Edmonton on Feb. 16, 2013.
(And how about a few kudos for former general manager Greg Sherman for acquiring Varlamov back in July 2011.)
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 54 saves were the most in a regular-season road shutout since the NHL officially began tracking shots on goal nearly 60 years ago.
Only two goalies have had that many in a regular-season home shutout in that span: Edmonton's Ben Scrivens (59 against San Jose on Jan. 29, 2014) and Arizona's Mike Smith (54 against Columbus on April 3, 2012).
Varlamov has beaten the Blackhawks five consecutive times and has an 8-3-0 career record against them with two shutouts, a 2.01 goals-against average and .945 save percentage.
But let's face it, the Avalanche can't expect to win very often when they spend so much time in their own end while Varlamov (or any goalie) is facing such a barrage.
Counting missed and blocked shots, the Blackhawks attempted 92 shots, the Avalanche 44. Give credit to Colorado for blocking 12 shots -- Erik Johnson and Cody McLeod each had four, John Mitchell three -- but the Avalanche owe Varlamov big time and better play a lot better all-around game Thursday when Ottawa comes to the Pepsi Center.
The Blackhawks outshot the Avalanche 17-11 in the first period, 21-5 in the second and 16-8 in the third. They had nine shots on two power plays.
Mitchell, one of the most underrated players in the league, had a strong game with two assists and he won nine of 16 faceoffs. The Avalanche haven't been a very good faceoff team, but they dominated Chicago on draws 36-18. Ryan O'Reilly won 14 of 17 and Matt Duchene nine of 12.
Nathan MacKinnon scored on Mitchell's rebound, beating goalie Corey Crawford from a sharp angle for his second goal in six games after going 16 games without one, and he used his speed to set up Max Talbot 24 seconds later. It was his third multi-point game of the season and the Avalanche need him to get rolling.
The Avalanche also need Duchene to end his slump. He has three assists and no goals in the past 11 games since he scored Dec. 11 against Winnipeg.
The Avalanche (16-16-8, 40 points) hit the halfway point in the season Thursday against the Senators and need to go on a huge run to get into the playoff race. Dallas secured the final postseason spot in the West last season with 91 points, but that probably won't be enough this time. Winnipeg currently has the eighth position with 47 points in 40 games, so the Jets are on pace for at least 94.
Do the Avalanche have 54 points in the final 42 games (counting Thursday) in them? Quite a long shot, I'd say. Last season, when just about everything went right, they had 56 points in the first 41 games and 56 points in the last 41.
And don't forget ROW, regulation and overtime wins, the deciding playoff factor if teams are tied at the end of the season. The Avalanche only have 11 of them and have plenty of catching up to do.