The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Monday night. One day earlier, Chicago called up 2024 second-overall pick Artyom Levshunov. Ahead of the game, it became clear that he was set to make his NHL debut against Colorado.
It didn’t take long for Levshunov to make an impact. He was a physical presence and defended well right out of the gate. That included a skirmish with Avalanche forward Ross Colton on his second career shift.
Neither the Blackhawks nor the Avalanche were able to come up with any goals during the first 40 minutes of play. The score was 0-0 at the second intermission but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Both Spencer Knight and Scott Wedgewood were outstanding.
The Avalanche, who have a case to be considered the best team in the Western Conference right now, don’t score 0 goals through 40 minutes very often. It’s hard to contain them let alone stop them.
That proved to be true in the third period. Arturri Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead by reflecting a Devon Toews shot past Knight. Nathan MacKinnon passed it to Toews which earned him his 1000th career point.
It took just under 3 minutes for MacKinnon to collect NHL point 1001 as he cashed in an assist on Marty Necas’s tally that made it 2-0 Avalanche.
With less than a minute left in the third period, Joel Kiviranta threw one into the empty net to seal the 3-0 victory. This marks the first time this season that the Blackhawks were shut out.
That’s not bad for a team that’s now 20-36-9 which is good for the second worst record in the NHL. They were also shut out 12 times in 2023-24 so the improvement is massive.
Although they lost the hockey game and didn’t score a goal, the Blackhawks played well enough to win a road game. They just couldn’t get one past Scott Wedgewood who made some spectacular saves.
As for Artyom Levshunov, he should be proud of his NHL debut. There is a long way to go but Levshunov looked like he belonged there against a super-elite team.
Levshunov had 20:55 of ice time, 2 blocked shots, 6 shot attempts and 3 of them made it on goal. There were a few near misses when it came to offense but it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through if he keeps shooting and passing the way he was in his debut.
Next up for the Blackhawks is the San Jose Sharks who they will play at SAP Center on Thursday. Although every NHL team is good and paid to try and win, the Sharks are far less daunting than the Avalanche.
Visit The Hockey…