Bickell in the first period after he crashed into the Avalanche

DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche found a cure for their first slump of the season -- play the Stanley Cup champs. Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Gabriel Landeskog and John Mitchell also scored during Colorados three-goal first period. P.A. Parenteau and Cody McLeod added goals in the second and third for Colorado, which snapped a three-game skid. "You always say a win is a win, and it is. But at the same time our strength is our team morale and confidence," Landeskog said. "It feels good. It doesnt mean anything unless we go into Phoenix and play well." Brandon Saad scored for the Blackhawks, who failed to get at least two goals for the first time this season. Colorado ended Chicagos NHL-record streak of 24 consecutive games with at least a point to start a season in a 6-2 win last March. "Maybe we tend to respect them a little more than other teams, which we shouldnt," Stastny said. "We should respect everyone the same way. When youre young, that happens. Theyre the defending champs and you always want to play your best against the best." Antti Raanta made 14 saves in his NHL debut for the Blackhawks. He played the final 46:23 in relief of Corey Crawford, who allowed three goals on seven shots. "The target all the time was that someday I could play in the NHL, and in Rockford I had good games there, and I know I can do it," he said. "Only now its the small things, so we have to keep doing work and prepare to be even better all the time." The Blackhawks had their opportunities in outshooting Colorado 37-23. They had several quality chances to get back in the game in the second period but couldnt put one past Varlamov. Colorado stumbled after winning 14 of its first 16 games but capitalized on its chances in the first period this time. Stastny scored when Brent Seabrooks pass off the boards ricocheted to him in the slot, and he beat Crawford with a slap shot. Landeskog gave Colorado a two-goal lead when he redirected Andre Benoits shot from the point past Crawford with 7:39 left in the period. Just 56 seconds later, Mitchell made it 3-0. "We had a really good start. We were really sharp around the net and scored nice goals," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. Raanta, recalled Sunday, replaced Crawford after Mitchells goal. He faced only seven shots over the next 25 minutes but allowed his first goal late in the second period. After the Blackhawks had several strong chances in front of Varlamov, Parenteau skated down the left boards and beat Raanta with a shot from the circle to make it 4-0 with 1:22 left in the second. "The fourth goal was big for us. They were buzzing in our zone and Varly made some key saves for us," Roy said. "Youre always afraid being up 3-0 of having a letdown. But we were moving our feet." McLeod scored his first goal of the season on a rebound 1:44 into the third. Chicago lost forward Bryan Bickell in the first period after he crashed into the Avalanche net. He didnt return, and coach Joel Quenneville said after the game that Bickell might be more than day to day. "But Im not sure of that," Quenneville said. Its a tough blow for the Blackhawks, who are playing without forwards Michael Handzus and Marian Hossa. "Bicksie is obviously a big part of this and you hope its not too long," Kris Versteeg said. "Obviously, we need him in the lineup." NOTES: Colorado forward Maxime Talbot and defenceman Tyson Barrie had two assists each. ... There were only two penalties called in the game, one on each team. ... Avalanche C Matt Duchene is expected to miss at least a week with an oblique injury sustained in Saturdays loss to Florida. ... Hossa missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. ... Colorado placed forward Alex Tanguay (knee) and defenceman Ryan Wilson (back) on injured reserve and recalled C Brad Malone and Barrie from Lake Erie of the AHL. Jim Presley Jersey . Nix is a career .218 hitter in 425 games over six seasons. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter batted .270 with a homer this spring for Tampa Bay. Gaylord Perry Jersey . De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, Todd Helton homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapmariners.com/2045k-j-p-crawford-jersey-mariners.html . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. Mike Zunino Jersey . James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said. Daniel Vogelbach Jersey . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics.Shenzhen, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Second-seeded Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova was an easy first-round victor Tuesday at the season-opening Shenzhen Open tennis tournament. The Wimbledon champion waltzed past Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes on the hardcourts at Shenzhen Longgang Tennis Centre. Some other second-round action saw fourth-seeded Kazakhstani Zarina Diyas handle Hungarian TTimea Babos 6-3, 6-4 and Chinese Zheng Saisai hold off Slovenian Polona Hercog 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.dddddddddddd Diyas will battle Zheng in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded French Open runner-up Simona Halep will play her second-round match against Russian wild card Natalia Vikhlyantseva on Wednesday. Shenzhen serves as a tune-up for the Australian Open, which will begin January 19 in Melbourne. ' ' '