Chicago BlackhawksCHI 1–3 Final Colorado AvalancheCOL

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Final 1st2nd3rd T SOG
Chicago BlackhawksCHI 100 1 15
Colorado AvalancheCOL 012 3 35
Playoff odds, % Change
CHI -0.3
COL +0.0

How the result moved each team's playoff odds, calculated Feb 28, 2026 5:53 PM EST.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
6:31 CHI Connor Bedard (25)PP Tyler Bertuzzi (18), Teuvo Teravainen (15) · snap xG 0.11 1–0 ▶
2nd Period
19:51 COL Cale Makar (16) Nathan MacKinnon (56), Martin Necas (42) · snap xG 0.14 1–1 ▶
3rd Period
7:31 COL Gavin Brindley (6) Sam Malinski (24), Devon Toews (13) · wrist xG 0.50 1–2 ▶
18:33 COL Cale Makar (17)EN Nathan MacKinnon (57), Martin Necas (43) · wrist xG 0.65 1–3 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

CHI 24%Deserve to win76% COL
CHICOL
1.98Expected goals4.21
1Goals (no shootout)3
1.42Expected goals, 5 on 52.37
40Shot attempts71
27Unblocked attempts55
15Shots on goal35

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

1st Period
11:01 COL Deserve to win Deserve to win · COL takes the lead, 61–39%
CHI had led since 3:33 of the 1st, by as much as 63%
2nd Period
8:23 CHI Goalie Goalie · Knight +2.0 goals saved
0 goals on 2.01 xG, 19 shots on goal
3rd Period
18:44 CHI Pulled goalie Pulled goalie · Pulled Knight, down 3–1
With 1:16 left

Shot map

CHI shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ COL shoots
Jason Dickinson: snap, 32 ft, xG 0.11 (P1 0:22) Connor Bedard: wrist, 37 ft, xG 0.05 (P1 1:24) Louis Crevier: slap, 61 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 3:19) Ilya Mikheyev: slap, 30 ft, xG 0.10 (P1 3:33) Josh Manson: wrist, 25 ft, xG 0.14 (P1 4:11) Artturi Lehkonen: snap, 12 ft, xG 0.17 (P1 4:14) Connor Murphy: wrist, 18 ft, xG 0.04 (P1 4:45) Brett Kulak: wrist, 127 ft, xG 0.00 (P1 5:16) Tyler Bertuzzi: wrist, 16 ft, xG 0.13 (P1 6:04) Matt Grzelcyk: wrist, 62 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 6:07) Jack Drury: snap, 24 ft, xG 0.17 (P1 7:47) Victor Olofsson: wrist, 34 ft, xG 0.06 (P1 7:53) Brett Kulak: wrist, 64 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 7:58) Brent Burns: snap, 66 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 8:24) Colton Dach: snap, 43 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 8:30) Zakhar Bardakov: wrist, 41 ft, xG 0.04 (P1 9:13) Martin Necas: wrist, 37 ft, xG 0.04 (P1 9:27) Gabriel Landeskog: snap, 35 ft, xG 0.07 (P1 9:32) Cale Makar: wrist, 62 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 9:37) Victor Olofsson: snap, 22 ft, xG 0.10 (P1 9:39) Gabriel Landeskog: backhand, 9 ft, xG 0.11 (P1 11:01) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 51 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 11:09) Gabriel Landeskog: wrist, 26 ft, xG 0.08 (P1 11:19) Jack Drury: wrist, 44 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 13:25) Gabriel Landeskog: snap, 38 ft, xG 0.07 (P1 14:42) Zakhar Bardakov: wrist, 62 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 15:56) Sam Malinski: wrist, 56 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 16:45) Valeri Nichushkin: backhand, 25 ft, xG 0.03 (P1 17:20) Valeri Nichushkin: wrist, 90 ft, xG 0.00 (P1 17:37) Brett Kulak: wrist, 59 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 18:50) Brock Nelson: slap, 41 ft, xG 0.09 (P1 19:49) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 6 ft, xG 0.22 (P2 0:43) Martin Necas: wrist, 38 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 0:49) Sam Malinski: snap, 46 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 1:36) Valeri Nichushkin: snap, 32 ft, xG 0.12 (P2 3:10) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 11 ft, xG 0.09 (P2 5:36) Martin Necas: wrist, 42 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 6:32) Artturi Lehkonen: wrist, 8 ft, xG 0.17 (P2 6:41) Sam Malinski: wrist, 44 ft, xG 0.02 (P2 7:42) Sam Malinski: slap, 67 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 8:23) Alex Vlasic: wrist, 55 ft, xG 0.02 (P2 8:37) Andre Burakovsky: wrist, 30 ft, xG 0.06 (P2 9:32) Cale Makar: wrist, 53 ft, xG 0.02 (P2 10:26) Artturi Lehkonen: tip-in, 11 ft, xG 0.06 (P2 10:31) Cale Makar: slap, 42 ft, xG 0.04 (P2 10:59) Sam Malinski: slap, 39 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 11:39) Colton Dach: deflected, 11 ft, xG 0.14 (P2 12:06) Jason Dickinson: snap, 30 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 13:09) Cale Makar: wrist, 31 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 13:34) Louis Crevier: slap, 58 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 14:17) Oliver Moore: backhand, 7 ft, xG 0.04 (P2 14:20) Oliver Moore: backhand, 6 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 14:20) Victor Olofsson: backhand, 14 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 14:29) Ross Colton: wrist, 41 ft, xG 0.04 (P2 16:36) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 14 ft, xG 0.08 (P2 19:15) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 14 ft, xG 0.04 (P2 19:16) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 11 ft, xG 0.13 (P2 19:40) Ross Colton: wrist, 50 ft, xG 0.02 (P3 0:08) Sam Malinski: wrist, 53 ft, xG 0.02 (P3 0:13) Louis Crevier: slap, 59 ft, xG 0.03 (P3 0:37) Tyler Bertuzzi: wrist, 11 ft, xG 0.16 (P3 0:45) Connor Bedard: snap, 39 ft, xG 0.06 (P3 1:36) Jack Drury: wrist, 6 ft, xG 0.14 (P3 2:40) Connor Bedard: slap, 39 ft, xG 0.07 (P3 2:54) Nick Foligno: tip-in, 10 ft, xG 0.09 (P3 3:01) Ryan Greene: snap, 17 ft, xG 0.18 (P3 3:39) Gavin Brindley: wrist, 19 ft, xG 0.13 (P3 7:28) Connor Bedard: slap, 46 ft, xG 0.07 (P3 7:56) Valeri Nichushkin: wrist, 36 ft, xG 0.01 (P3 9:37) Connor Bedard: wrist, 6 ft, xG 0.09 (P3 10:37) Tyler Bertuzzi: snap, 7 ft, xG 0.20 (P3 10:45) Louis Crevier: snap, 32 ft, xG 0.08 (P3 12:43) Ilya Mikheyev: snap, 61 ft, xG 0.00 (P3 12:44) Devon Toews: wrist, 48 ft, xG 0.02 (P3 14:10) Josh Manson: wrist, 60 ft, xG 0.00 (P3 15:06) Devon Toews: slap, 58 ft, xG 0.04 (P3 15:29) Gabriel Landeskog: wrist, 64 ft, xG 0.01 (P3 15:42) Nathan MacKinnon: wrist, 47 ft, xG 0.01 (P3 16:00) Connor Bedard: GOAL, snap, 27 ft, xG 0.11 (P1 6:31) Cale Makar: GOAL, snap, 28 ft, xG 0.14 (P2 19:51) Gavin Brindley: GOAL, wrist, 9 ft, xG 0.50 (P3 7:31) Cale Makar: GOAL, wrist, 55 ft, xG 0.65 (P3 18:33)
About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Chicago Blackhawks

Skater GAP+/− AttxG HitBlkTOI
Forwards
98 Connor Bedard 101 -2 80.46 1120:33
59 Tyler Bertuzzi 011 -2 50.49 1219:36
86 Teuvo Teravainen 011 -2 20.00 0018:43
16 Jason Dickinson 000 0 20.14 1217:37
95 Ilya Mikheyev 000 0 20.10 0017:29
91 Frank Nazar 000 -1 10.00 0016:40
95 Andre Burakovsky 000 -1 20.06 1016:13
20 Ryan Greene 000 -1 20.18 0014:52
11 Oliver Moore 000 -1 30.09 1011:21
71 Nick Foligno 000 0 10.09 1010:48
8 Ryan Donato 000 0 20.00 0010:27
34 Colton Dach 000 0 20.15 5007:56
Defense
72 Alex Vlasic 000 -1 10.02 0223:09
24 Matt Grzelcyk 000 -2 10.02 1222:17
46 Louis Crevier 000 -1 40.14 2020:44
55 Artyom Levshunov 000 -2 10.00 1219:52
5 Connor Murphy 000 0 10.04 4117:08
14 Kevin Korchinski 000 0 00.00 1108:24
Goalie SAGA SVSV% xGA GSAx
Spencer Knight 34232 .941 3.55 +1.55

Colorado Avalanche

Skater GAP+/− AttxG HitBlkTOI
Forwards
29 Nathan MacKinnon 022 +2 80.59 1023:32
88 Martin Necas 022 +2 30.14 1123:05
92 Gabriel Landeskog 000 +2 70.34 0122:16
11 Brock Nelson 000 +1 10.09 1121:50
43 Valeri Nichushkin 000 0 40.16 0017:54
62 Artturi Lehkonen 000 0 30.39 1116:53
18 Jack Drury 000 +1 40.31 0013:14
17 Parker Kelly 000 0 00.00 2211:26
79 Ross Colton 000 0 50.06 1010:00
95 Victor Olofsson 000 0 30.19 0009:26
93 Zakhar Bardakov 000 +1 20.06 0004:13
54 Gavin Brindley 101 +1 20.63 1003:26
Defense
8 Cale Makar 202 +2 90.87 0223:53
7 Devon Toews 011 +2 30.06 1021:15
70 Sam Malinski 011 +1 80.12 0018:18
84 Brent Burns 000 0 30.01 1117:33
27 Brett Kulak 000 0 30.02 0216:57
42 Josh Manson 000 0 30.15 3016:28
Goalie SAGA SVSV% xGA GSAx
Mackenzie Blackwood 15114 .933 1.98 +0.98

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Chicago Blackhawks

Player Rating Points Shots On ice Pen FO Other GSAx TOI
30 Spencer Knight G +1.55 0.00 — — 0.00 — — +1.55 58:11
59 Tyler Bertuzzi L +0.82 +0.70 +0.32 -0.60 +0.30 0.00 +0.10 — 19:36
5 Connor Murphy D +0.43 0.00 +0.03 +0.35 0.00 0.00 +0.05 — 17:08
17 Nick Foligno L +0.43 0.00 +0.06 +0.25 +0.15 -0.01 -0.02 — 10:48
16 Jason Dickinson C +0.42 0.00 +0.09 +0.20 0.00 +0.02 +0.10 — 17:37
95 Ilya Mikheyev R +0.21 0.00 +0.06 +0.16 0.00 0.00 -0.02 — 17:29
8 Ryan Donato C +0.15 0.00 0.00 +0.14 0.00 -0.01 +0.02 — 10:27
86 Teuvo Teravainen C +0.10 +0.55 0.00 -0.42 0.00 -0.01 -0.02 — 18:43
14 Kevin Korchinski D +0.03 0.00 0.00 +0.02 0.00 0.00 +0.01 — 8:24
34 Colton Dach C -0.06 0.00 +0.10 0.00 -0.15 0.00 0.00 — 7:56
91 Frank Nazar C -0.14 0.00 0.00 -0.12 0.00 +0.02 -0.04 — 16:40
11 Oliver Moore C -0.19 0.00 +0.06 -0.10 -0.15 0.00 0.00 — 11:21
98 Connor Bedard C -0.39 +0.75 +0.30 -1.38 0.00 -0.07 +0.01 — 20:33
46 Louis Crevier D -0.40 0.00 +0.09 -0.51 0.00 0.00 +0.02 — 20:44
72 Alex Vlasic D -0.44 0.00 +0.01 -0.51 0.00 0.00 +0.06 — 23:09
20 Ryan Greene C -0.69 0.00 +0.12 -0.71 0.00 -0.06 -0.04 — 14:52
48 Matt Grzelcyk D -0.78 0.00 +0.01 -0.87 0.00 0.00 +0.08 — 22:17
55 Artyom Levshunov D -1.30 0.00 0.00 -1.40 0.00 0.00 +0.10 — 19:52
28 Andre Burakovsky L -1.38 0.00 +0.04 -1.28 -0.15 +0.01 0.00 — 16:13

Colorado Avalanche

Player Rating Points Shots On ice Pen FO Other GSAx TOI
8 Cale Makar D +3.29 +1.50 +0.57 +1.14 0.00 0.00 +0.08 — 23:49
54 Gavin Brindley C +1.84 +0.75 +0.41 +0.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 3:26
29 Nathan MacKinnon C +1.68 +1.40 +0.38 -0.06 0.00 +0.04 -0.08 — 23:32
18 Jack Drury C +1.64 0.00 +0.20 +1.24 +0.15 +0.01 +0.04 — 13:11
7 Devon Toews D +1.38 +0.55 +0.04 +1.07 -0.30 0.00 +0.02 — 21:15
88 Martin Necas C +1.34 +1.10 +0.09 +0.01 +0.15 0.00 -0.01 — 23:05
70 Sam Malinski D +1.29 +0.70 +0.08 +0.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 18:18
39 Mackenzie Blackwood G +0.98 0.00 — — 0.00 — — +0.98 60:00
93 Zakhar Bardakov C +0.92 0.00 +0.04 +0.88 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 4:13
13 Valeri Nichushkin R +0.56 0.00 +0.11 +0.44 0.00 -0.01 +0.02 — 17:54
95 Victor Olofsson L +0.50 0.00 +0.13 +0.41 0.00 0.00 -0.04 — 9:26
11 Brock Nelson C +0.49 0.00 +0.06 +0.38 0.00 +0.03 +0.03 — 21:57
62 Artturi Lehkonen L +0.49 0.00 +0.25 +0.20 0.00 -0.01 +0.05 — 16:53
20 Ross Colton C +0.46 0.00 +0.04 +0.46 0.00 0.00 -0.04 — 10:00
17 Parker Kelly C +0.22 0.00 0.00 +0.10 0.00 +0.02 +0.10 — 11:26
27 Brett Kulak D +0.14 0.00 +0.01 -0.13 +0.15 0.00 +0.10 — 16:57
92 Gabriel Landeskog L -0.05 0.00 +0.22 -0.18 -0.15 +0.03 +0.03 — 22:16
42 Josh Manson D -0.10 0.00 +0.10 +0.01 -0.15 0.00 -0.06 — 16:28
84 Brent Burns D -0.19 0.00 +0.01 -0.40 +0.15 0.00 +0.05 — 17:33

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.