Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Colorado Avalanche by 4-3 in what was a season opener for both teams. The Blackhawks, who are the defending champions of the Stanley Cup, were unable to clinch victory despite a close call at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.
The opener was decided in overtime and that, too, with just 1:20 minutes remaining to finish when the Avalanche's Paul Stastny scored his second goal and took his team to the victory stand.
The game went through power plays, tough battles for the goal and good sportsmanship by both teams. It was the Hawks who opened the scoring as Bryan Bickell deposited the puck behind goalie Craig Anderson at 4:37, benefiting from a cross-ice pass from the right circle by Martin Hossa. The Avalanche scored back 16:30 on a goal by Chris Stewart.
They proceeded to take a 3-1 lead over the Hawks with Matt Duchene scoring at 6:13 by using a delayed penalty and Stastny whipped the puck into the goal at 13:51 during a power play. The Hawks were quick to rebound with Hossa scoring a goal when just 1:36 was left in the second period. Patrick Sharp leveled the game during the third period when he scored a power play goal at 10:25.
The game was decided in overtime and at times it tilted in the Hawks' favor but Stastny ultimately scored big for his team in the last moments of the game and sent the Hawks home with a season opener loss.
