CHICAGO \u2014 Jack Drury was inches away from the perfect conclusion.<\/p>\n
The puck came to him, just to the right of what appeared to be a wide-open net. The game was already won, but the third line for the Colorado Avalanche earned a goal on this night. Deserved at least one, if not more.<\/p>\n
But just as Drury\u2019s shot cut through the air en route to his ninth goal of the season, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom saved his most spectacular work in a night full of excellence for last.<\/p>\n
He snatched Drury\u2019s shot with a desperation lunge to his left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure Jack\u2019s going to have some nightmares about that one,\u201d linemate Parker Kelly said<\/a>. \u201cI told him we don\u2019t want to score to make it 5-1. We want our next goal to be to go up 3-2.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019re all a little frustrated. You feel like you\u2019re working so hard to get the puck back. You\u2019re working hard to forecheck hard. You\u2019re doing well in the d-zone. It\u2019s everything but getting on the score sheet. You\u2019ve got to keep going with it. At the end of the day, you\u2019re playing good hockey so it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avs overwhelmed the Blackhawks at United Center<\/a>. The final score was 4-1, though S\u00f6derblom prevented it from being twice that many.<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s third line had one of the most dominant nights any trio will have in any NHL game this season. Drury, Kelly and Joel Kiviranta set up residency in the offensive zone Friday night.<\/p>\n They peppered Soderblom with scoring chances. They bullied a young Chicago team into turnovers, rarely spending much time at their own end of the ice.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it was right from the start, from the opening draw,\u201d Avs center Brock Nelson said. \u201cThey get it in there and they\u2019re kind of banging around and they get a couple good looks. Working low to high, causing havoc on the forecheck, getting pucks back.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s the recipe for all the lines at times. They may be the best at it more often than not. All three of those guys work extremely hard. I thought they were really good down low, getting pucks back and grinding it out, finding chances in space to get good looks.\u201d<\/p>\n A cursory glance at a traditional box score wouldn\u2019t reveal the the way the Avs\u2019 third line ran the show Monday night. They combined for no points. They weren\u2019t on the ice for a goal.<\/p>\n The underlying numbers were staggering. When Kelly was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Avalanche had 30 shot attempts in 12:28. The Blackhawks had four.<\/p>\n It was 26-4 for Drury, in 25 fewer seconds. It was 22-4 for Kiviranta is just 10:28. All three players had an expected goals for percentage (xGF%) of at least 89.03%.<\/p>\n The league leader in xGF% at 5-on-5 this season is Ottawa\u2019s Jordan Spence, at 61.75%.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s just great details by us,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWe\u2019re really pushing to try to finally get one and break through this little seal that\u2019s on the net right now for us, but at the end of the day, just got to look at the process. Since Jack, Kivi and I have been put together, it\u2019s been some pretty good hockey. Definitely a lot of chemistry there. I feel like we\u2019re doing really well at doing what makes our line successful.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pretty much doing everything but scoring right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiviranta leads the Avs<\/a> who have played at least 100 minutes at 5-on-5 in xGF% since the Olympic break at 66.52%. Drury is second and Kelly is sixth, and they\u2019re all better than 59%.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been together as a trio recently, thanks in part to all the injuries among the forward groups.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a relatively simple game there,\u201d Avs coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been really disciplined with the puck. If they have a chance to attack off the rush, they do it. If they don\u2019t, they\u2019re making good decisions and putting it in behind the other team, going after it and they\u2019re extremely hard working. It\u2019s a connected group of forwards.<\/p>\n \u201cThey never stop skating, working and competing, and that\u2019s hard to play against. They\u2019re creating a bunch of scoring chances. They\u2019re relied defensively, on the penalty kill. All these guys play on it. So I just think they\u2019re doing a heck of a job setting the tone for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelly, Drury and Logan O\u2019Connor were together at the end of last season as Colorado\u2019s fourth line. Bednar gave them the \u201cidentity line\u201d seal of approval. He\u2019s a coach that loves finding a trio of trusted forwards who play exactly the way he wants a defense-first unit to do so.<\/p>\n