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Lapointe leads Blackhawks to win at Colorado Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Martin Lapointe scored a pair of goals, including the go-ahead tally early in the third period, as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 5-3, at the Pepsi Center. Martin Havlat added two assists to increase his NHL-leading point total to 12 through five games for the Blackhawks, who have alternated wins and losses this season. Radim Vrbata had a goal and an assist for Chicago, which blew a three-goal lead only to recover and escape with two points. Joe Sakic scored and Milan Hejduk had two assists for the Avalanche, who have lost two in a row and four of five this season. Tyler Arnason had a goal and two assists for Colorado. After blowing a 3-0 lead, Chicago went back ahead nearly 5 1/2 minutes into the third period. Lapointe brought the puck into the offensive zone and from the top of the right circle beat Colorado netminder Jose Theodore low to his glove side. "He should have got that, but I'm glad it went it," said Lapointe. Patrick Sharp added an empty-net goal as time expired to account for the final score. Theodore ended making 26 saves, while his counterpart Nikolai Khabibulin made 19 saves for Chicago. The Blackhawks scored a pair of first-period power-play goals just 44 seconds apart to take the lead. First, Lapointe received an Adrian Aucoin pass at the left of the goal below the circle, skated to the circle and wristed a shot through the arm of Theodore and into the net with a minute remaining in the period. Then, Lasse Kukkonen scored on a slapper from the left point that appeared to redirect off a Colorado defenseman before going into the net. Chicago went 2-for-6 on the power play in the opening 20 minutes of action and again cashed in on the advantage early in the second. Just 2:38 into the stanza Vrbata redirected in his second goal of the season for a three-goal lead. The Avs began to mount a comeback under three minutes later when Sakic wristed home a shot that went high to the stick side of Khabibulin. The goal came with Colorado on a 5-on-3 advantage. Arnason then made it a one goal game with 2:58 left until the second intermission, controlling the rebound of a John-Michael Liles shot and beating Khabibulin. Colorado then tied the game early in the third period. On the power play, Patrice Brisebois wristed a shot from the right face-off circle that beat Khabibulin glove side. "We got behind with some not-so-smart penalties," said Liles. "They played us tough and we could not scratch and claw back." Game Notes Chicago ended 3-for-10 on the power play...Colorado went 2-for-6...Havlat has a point in every game this season. He had scored a goal in every game this year until this contest...Colorado drew 17,681 fans, ending the longest sellout streak in NHL history at 487 games. |