|
Here are some key things to watch for as the Blackhawks visit the Avalanche.   • Hawks won’t have to face Varly: For now, the Hawks won’t have to figure out the puzzle that is Avalanche starting goalie Semyon Varlamov, who is out of Wednesday’s game with a groin injury.
Varlamov was a brilliant against Hawks last season, totaling 168 saves on 175 shots against the Hawks. He was so good that the Hawks’ only win over the Avalanche last year came against his backup Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who they beat seven times in a 7-2 win in Chicago last December. Instead, 22-year-old Calvin Pickard will go opposite of Corey Crawford, who is making his 12th consecutive start. • Will Daniel Carcillo pull a T.Y. Hilton-like celebration after the birth of his son?: Carcillo mulled over the thought for a bit. A chance to cradle the face of his stick after a goal in honor of his son -- in the same kind of fashion Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton did with a football after he caught a long touchdown on Sunday -- didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for Carcillo. But a win will be good enough, Carcillo said. “We just need to find a way and win,” Carcillo said. “I don’t know if I would do anything like (Hilton) did. Maybe. But I don’t plan for that stuff.” Carcillo left Vancouver Monday morning and raced to the hospital -- on the shoulder of the highway, mostly -- and made it in time for the birth of his son Austin later that night in Chicago. The Hawks winger admitted he was still tired after he took a 7 a.m. flight to Denver on Wednesday morning. “Yeah, it’s been crazy,” Carcillo said. “But I think the adrenaline will kick in and I’ll get a good nap before tonight’s game.” • Shaw is back: Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw will play against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Shaw, who has three goals and three assists this season, said he nor his team can start slow against on their fourth game of a six-game road trip. “They are a team that works hard and got a lot of skill, and we’ve had trouble in this building,” Shaw said. “We have to come out hard and we got to push early. They are a hungry team up there and they got a lot to prove, and so do we.”
|
