Any NHL team can win on any given night, but there have been a lot of nights this season where the Chicago Blackhawks haven't looked like an NHL team. They sure have Colorado's number, though.
The Blackhawks, the team with the fewest points in the league, took down the Avalanche for the second time this season, this time 3-1.
Here are three Avalanche takeaways after a surprising loss in Chicago.
Drouin misses game
When Jonathan Drouin has been in the lineup this season, the forward has been very productive. Unfortunately, he hasn't been available to play a whole lot, and he was absent again on Wednesday.
This was the Avalanche's 42nd game of the season. Drouin has missed 33 of them due to an upper-body injury he suffered on opening night nearly three months ago. Colorado is hopeful he can play on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, but it's not exactly a guarantee.
When asked about Drouin's status earlier in the week by The Gazette, Jared Bednar didn't exactly make it sound hopeful.
“It’s not an injury you need to manage," the coach said. "When he’s good, he’s good. We’ll push through to break as best as we can. If he can play, he can play. If he can’t, he can’t. His injury, there’s no risk of it getting worse.”
And on Wednesday, he couldn't play.
There's no risk of it getting worse, but if he's still dealing with it at this point, it doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot better. And that's not good news for the Avalanche. Drouin is a key piece of the top six and adds some much-needed speed and skill to the lineup. If he continues to be a question mark the rest of the season, it puts GM Chris MacFarland in a real pickle because the depth beyond the top line isn't exactly rolling at the moment.
Ross Colton has gone cold since returning from injury, Valeri Nichushkin is dealing with a lower-body issue of his own, and Casey Mittelstadt still doesn't look to be out of his funk. No team can win a Stanley Cup on the backs of one line, so MacFarland (and Bednar) have to hope Drouin can get healthy at some point in the second half.
Miner makes first NHL start
Wednesday's game was a nice reward for Trent Miner, who has been shuffled between the ECHL and AHL for most of the last three seasons. The 23-year-old has been solid for the Colorado Eagles this season and started his first career NHL game.
Your daily report on everything sports in Colorado - covering the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and columns from Woody Paige and Paul Klee.
Did it go all that well? Not really, but it's always nice to see guys like this get rewarded.
Fans miss out
This game was broadcast on TNT and streamed on Max ... unless you were local. For anyone in the Colorado area, the TNT and Max broadcasts were blacked out, leaving anyone who doesn't have Altitude, which also broadcast the game, out in the cold.
There are a few of these games every season, but the only folks that lose out are the fans. Unfortunately, many fans in Colorado are a little too used to not being able to watch the Avalanche on TV at this point.
Blackhawks 3, Avalanche 1
What happened: Colorado came out flying with an early goal, but lost its mojo after the Blackhawks tied it and couldn't find a way to solve Petr Mrazek.
What went right: After taking a few games to find his legs, Juuso Parssinen is starting to fit in on the Avalanche. He scored their only goal of the night early in the first, and kind of did everything himself. The 23-year-old stole the puck from the Blackhawks in the defensive zone and finished things off at the other end with a beautiful backhand shot over Mrazek's glove. Parssinen finished with three shots and two hits in 14 minutes.
What went wrong: Colorado dominated the game for the first 16 minutes, but one turnover killed all that momentum. Sam Girard got the puck in the defensive corner and instead of making the safe play, tried to make a pass up the middle. Connor Bedard stopped that pass, and Ilya Mikheyev put the puck past Miner just a few seconds later. From that point on, the Avalanche never found their mojo again.
Avalanche goal scorers: Parssinen (3)
Blackhawks goal scorers: Mikheyev (8), Nazar (1), Bedard (11)
Between the pipes: In his first NHL start, Trent Miner stopped 17 of 20 shots for the loss. At the other end, Petr Mrazek turned into Superman, stopping 35 of 36 shots.
What's next: There will be no rest, as the Avalanche head straight to Minnesota to take on the Wild for the first time this season at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
