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Thursday, Oct. 26 8:30pm ET
Aebischer stops 18 for Avs | |||||
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CHICAGO (AP) -- The Chicago Blackhawks have a way of making rookie goaltenders look like tested veterans. David Aebischer became the fourth backup this season to beat Chicago, stopping 18 shots Thursday night for his first career shutout as the unbeaten Colorado Avalanche blanked the Blackhawks 2-0. "I know what my job is when I play," Aebischer said following his second career start. "I just try to stop the puck. They didn't have many scoring chances. They had two shots in the second period." Even with Patrick Roy getting a night off, the Avalanche continued their early season roll. "I think we are all confident in each other. It doesn't matter who we have in net, Patrick or Aebischer," said Peter Forsberg. "We help each other all over the ice." Milan Hejduk scored from the slot five minutes in, as Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault was screened by teammate Kevin Dean. Alex Tanguay's power-play goal less than two minutes into the second period put the Avalanche (8-0-2) up 2-0. "We did not give them much defensively," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "David gave us a couple of key saves at the right time. From the first drop of the puck, you could see his focus was there. He's solid, didn't bobble one puck. He had full control." Chicago had a first-period goal by Stephane Quintal wiped out when Michael Nylander was called for a crosscheck in the crease. The Blackhawks misfired on several scoring chances from close range in the final period. "I still don't understand why we aren't scoring any goals with the situations we have," Chicago coach Alpo Suhonen said. "We had a couple of chances to score in the third period and didn't." The Blackhawks are off to their third straight slow start. They've missed the playoffs three years running. "It's not good enough. It's still early but we have to start winning soon," said Thibault. Game notesThe Blackhawks have lost four straight and their only two wins came against the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets. ....The Blackhawks, who are 4-for-39 on the power play this season, were 0-for-1 Thursday. ... Colorado has scored a power play goal in eight straight games. ... The Avalanche are the NHL's top road team since the 1995-96 season at 109-76-27. ... Al MacAdam made his debut as a Blackhawks assistant coach. He replaced Don Jackson, who was fired this week because of philosophical differences with Alpo Suhonen. ... The Blackhawks are struggling at the gate, just like on the ice. Attendance was announced at 13,294, more than 6,000 under capacity to watch one of the NHL's top teams -- the Avalanche -- in the last several years. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Colorado Clubhouse Chicago Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 4 Washington 1
Colorado 2 AUDIO/VIDEO   Milan Hejduk scores off the feed from Chris Drury.avi: 836 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||