Eurolanche

MacKinnon propels Avs in overtime

Nathan MacKinnon scored 25 seconds into overtime and Calvin Pickard made 38 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche end a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday.

Pickard, filling in for injured Semyon Varlamov (groin), defeated the Blackhawks for the first time in five career appearances (1-3-0). Corey Crawford made 32 saves for the Blackhawks in his first start following a 10-game absence while recovering from an appendectomy Dec. 3.

After a turnover in the neutral zone, defenseman Tyson Barrie gave the puck to MacKinnon for a 2-on-1 rush and MacKinnon shot past Crawford's glove to end it.

Jonathan Toews ended a 13-game goalless drought by scoring his fifth goal for the Blackhawks (22-9-5). Mikko Rantanen scored for the Avalanche (12-20-1).

The Blackhawks controlled play throughout most of the second period and capitalized on Toews' power-play goal at 11:52 for a 1-0 lead. Toews scored his first goal since Nov. 6 by tapping in a sharp-angled shot from the left side of the net.

Colorado had a couple of good chances to tie it late in the second, but Crawford stopped both, including a diving stick save against Rantanen at 16:16.

Rantanen got another chance at 5:42 of the third. Standing in front of Crawford, he tied it 1-1 off assists by Barrie and MacKinnon.

Crawford came up with two more saves, stopping Gabriel Landeskog and thwarting a breakaway by Blake Comeau.

-- by Brian Hedger for NHL.com --