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CHICAGO -- Colorado is in the mix for one of the top playoff seeds in the Western Conference, and first-year coach Patrick Roy thinks the Avalanche are one of the NHLs biggest surprises. Tyson Barrie scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 7:10 left in the third period, and the Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Tuesday night for their third straight win. Colorado reached the 40-victory mark faster than any team in franchise history. It also improved to 3-1 against the Blackhawks this season and moved within one point of the Stanley Cup champions for second in the Central Division. "Our objective at the start of the season was to surprise the world of hockey," Roy said. "Today, I guess were making it even more interesting. Were one point behind these guys with one game in hand." Barrie got open in the left circle and one-timed Erik Johnsons perfect cross-ice feed high past Corey Crawford on the glove side. It was Barries second game-winner against Chicago this season, following an overtime goal against the Blackhawks on Jan. 14. "He put it right in my wheelhouse and I was able to get everything on it," Barrie said. "You always want to put it upstairs. I was lucky to beat Crawford there." Paul Stastny completed the scoring with an empty-netter with 32.6 seconds left. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon got an assist on Stastnys 20th goal, extending his point streak to 12 games, tying Wayne Gretzkys record for an 18-year-old set in 1979-80. Barrie scored for the second straight game as Colorados defencemen continued to contribute offensively. The Avalanche got four goals from defencemen in a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. Ryan OReilly and Maxime Talbot also scored for the Avalanche, who are 17-6-1 since New Years Eve. OReilly has three goals and three assists in his last four games. "I think we know what weve got in here," Barrie said. "Weve got a great group of guys. Its a lot of fun to play." Ben Smith and Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago, which was without veteran forward Marian Hossa. Toews has three goals in his last two games. Hossa left Saturday nights 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Soldier Field with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss two to three weeks. Brandon Saad moved up again to take Hossas spot on the right side of Chicagos top line with Toews and Patrick Sharp. The Blackhawks outshot Colorado 38-21, and Chicago coach Joel Quenneville thought that statistic reflected the play on the ice for most of the game. "I think we outchanced and outplayed them," Quenneville said. "I didnt like any of the goals that went in tonight. It was one of those games." Chicago also lost ground to St. Louis, which beat Tampa Bay 4-2 and is all alone in the Central lead, three points behind Anaheim for the top spot in the conference. "We lost a lot of ground," Quenneville said. "A four-point swing." Chicago and the much-improved Avalanche could meet in the opening round of the playoffs under the NHLs new alignment. "I would say 80 per cent, if not 90 per cent, said at the beginning of the year the Avalanche will miss the playoffs," Roy said. "Its not done yet, but were certainly in good shape right now." Colorados Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves. Crawford had 17 stops in the Blackhawks first game at the United Center since a 3-1 loss to Winnipeg on Jan. 26. The Blackhawks outshot Colorado 11-3 in a scoreless first period, but didnt generate many prime chances. Talbot put the Avalanche in front 2:49 into the second when he got his stick on Johnsons low shot from the right point. Positioned in the right circle, Talbot barely ticked Johnsons wrister, but it was enough to direct the puck between Crawfords pads. The Blackhawks turned up the pressure after falling behind, outskating the Avalanche and forcing turnovers. Varlamov helped keep Chicago off the board with several sharp saves, including point-blank stops on Toews and Peter Regin. Smith and Chicagos solid fourth line tied it at 1 with 3:08 left in the second. Capping some work along the boards with Brandon Bollig, Smith cut into the left circle and fired a shot past Varlamov with Avalanche defenceman Jan Hejda screening. OReilly snapped off a low shot from the right circle that slipped between Crawfords pads at 1:23 of the third to put Colorado ahead 2-1. Toews replied with a power-play goal at 7:17. After slipping to the right side of the net, Toews took Sharps feed and fired it past Varlamov to complete a slick passing series. NOTES: The Blackhawks acquired D David Rundblad and D Mathieu Brisebois in a trade with Phoenix before the game. Rundblad will join the Blackhawks and give them eight defencemen on the roster. Brisebois will report to Rockford of the AHL. Chicago parted with a second-round selection in this years draft to complete the trade. ... Crawford wore his black leg pads against Colorado. His favourite set, custom white models, disappeared from Soldier Field after Saturdays game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic Sharks Jersey . Tepesch, back from the minor leagues, earned his first major league victory in more than 10 months and the Rangers edged the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Wednesday. Marcus Sorensen Sharks Jersey . The 6-foot-10 centre who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat was voted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday, adding that honour to becoming a board member at his alma mater. http://www.officialsharksnhlshop.com/evander-kane-jersey/ .com) - The Winnipeg Jets placed defenceman Paul Postma on injured reserve Tuesday. Tomas Hertl Jersey . -- Mixed martial arts fighter Cristiane Justino Santos has been suspended and fined for testing positive for steroids. Melker Karlsson Jersey . -- A 25-year-old freelance journalist from British Columbia was formally charged on Thursday with a felony, five days after she was arrested in the United States over allegations she threatened to kill her hockey player boyfriend.BARRIE, Ont. - Adrian Carbonaras goal at 7:31 of the third period held up as the winner as the Barrie Colts topped the Mississauga Steelheads 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday. Brenden Lemieux, Roy Radke and Cordell James also scored for Barrie (12-11-2), while Andrew Mangiapane added an empty-net goal with 13 seconds remaining to seal the victory.Bryson Cianfrone had a goal and two assists for the Steelheads (11-13-1), Josh Burnside opened up the scoring with a power-play goal four minutes into the game, and Sam Babinstev added a short-handed marker 22 seconds into the third period.Colts goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26 shots in the win. Mississaugas Spencer Martin made 36 saves in the losing effort.---STORM 5 ICEDOGS 2ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — Luke Cairns scored two goals to lead Guelph over the IceDogs.Robby Fabbri had a goal and two assists for the Storm (15-10-1), Zac Leslie chipped in with one goal and one helper, and Pius Suter also scored.ddddddddddddBrendan Perlini and Carter Verhaeghe replied for the IceDogs (8-18-0).---GENERALS 6 PETES 0PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — Ken Appleby was perfect on all 25 shots he faced as Oshawa blanked the Petes.Michael Dal Colle scored two goals and assisted on another for the Generals (21-3-1), Bradley Latour and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist apiece, and Josh Brown and Tobias Lindberg also scored.Matthew Mancina stopped 26 shots for Peterborough (9-13-4).---GREYHOUNDS 8 SPITFIRES 5WINDSOR, Ont. — Blake Speers struck twice and added an assist to power Sault Ste. Marie over the Spitfires.Bryan Moore had a three-point night with a goal and two helpers for the Greyhounds (20-6-1), Kyle Jenkins, Keigan Goetz and Sergey Tolchinsky had a goal and an assist apiece and Zachary Senyshyn and Michael Bunting also scored.Trevor Murphy, Markus Soberg, Slater Doggett, Ryan Moore and Cristiano DiGiancinto supplied the offence for Windsor (9-16-1).--- ' ' '