Chicago @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 21, 2018 ) Chicago 2, Colorado 1

The Chicago Blackhawks are playing their best hockey of the season as they meet the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday for the second time in nine days in Denver. Chicago, which is last in the Central Division and tied for the third-fewest points in the league, has won four of its last five games - including one against Colorado - after a 5-2 victory over Minnesota on Thursday.

"I think we've been playing a lot better the last 15 games or so to be honest with you," Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane told reporters after recording a hat trick Thursday. "I know the results weren't there some nights, and even though some games we don't play our best, we're finding ways to hang in the game and come up with some points. That's a (sign) of a good team when you can do that stuff." The Avalanche have lost three straight games - all against the Western Conference - and are 1-4-2 in their last seven such contests after a 2-1 loss at Vegas on Thursday but sit third in the Central - six points behind first-place Winnipeg and two behind Nashville. Colorado is fifth in the league with 3.42 goals per game but has scored only nine in its last five contests (1-4-0) and is 4-7-2 in its last 13 games. Chicago defeated the Avalanche 2-1 on Dec. 21 when rookie goaltender Collin Delia made 35 saves in his season debut and Artem Anisimov broke a 1-1 tie with a third-period goal.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, Altitude (Colorado)

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (14-20-6): Kane leads the club with 20 goals and 47 points, and is riding a six-game point streak during which he has accumulated five and five. Alex DeBrincat (17 goals, 32 points) scored in three straight games prior to being held to an assist Thursday while captain Jonathan Toews (16, 34) has three assists in his last two games. Delia made 46 saves against Minnesota in his second start of the season as the 24-year-old Californian shares goaltending duties with Cam Ward while No. 1 Corey Crawford recovers from another concussion.

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (19-13-6): Mikko Rantanen (60 points) lost his league lead to Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov (61) despite recording five goals and 17 points in 12 December games. Nathan MacKinnon, who Thursday was named Central Division captain for next month's All-Star Game, is third in the NHL in points (57) after totaling four goals and 12 assists this month. Gabriel Landeskog (team-high 24 goals, 43 points), the third member of the league's most productive line, has nine goals and six assists in December.

OVERTIME

1. Kane has scored 20 or more goals in 12 straight seasons, trailing only Stan Mikita (14 from 1961-1975) and Bobby Hull (13 from 1959-72) in club history.

2. Colorado's Nikita Zadorov (team-best plus-9 among defensemen) has missed the last three games (lower body).

3. Chicago scored more than one power-play goal in a game for the first time this season with two Thursday, raising its percentage to 14.3 - fifth-worst in the league entering Friday.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Blackhawks 2