Blackhawks squander 3-0 lead, lose in overtime to Avs

Scott Darling stops a shot by Colorado left wing Matt Nieto in the second period Tuesday night (AP Photo)

DENVER — With nothing to play for on this final road trip of the season, it would be easy and reasonable for the Blackhawks to mail it in. But with the playoffs opening next week — likely Thursday for the Hawks — they’re trying to stay sharp and keep their mental edge. When you’re just trying to get through the last three games healthy, and when you’re shuffling guys in and out of the lineup, it’s a fine line to walk.

“We want to win these games,” Ryan Hartman said. “You want to go into the playoffs on a winning note. You don’t want to be going into the playoffs doubting yourself.”

Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the lowly Colorado Avalanche wasn’t what the Hawks had in mind. Aside from the first 10 minutes of the second period, the Hawks looked every bit like a team with nothing to play for as they squandered a 3-0 lead, with Scott Darling making 47 saves as the Avalanche peppered him with a season-high 51 shots.

They looked disinterested at best as Darling bailed them out in a first period, in which they were outshot 16-3. Things briefly picked up considerably, with Artemi Panarin, Hartman and Marcus Kruger staking the Hawks to a 3-0 lead by 10:57 of the second period.

But Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog each scored short-handed goals late in the period to make a game of it. Duchene then fed Mikhail Grigorenko for the equalizer at 5:46 of the third period. Erik Johnson scored the game-winner at 1:57 of overtime.

It was a meaningless game in the standings. So are the final two in Anaheim and Los Angeles. But the Hawks want to finish strong.

“It’s not really an excuse,” defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said. “We didn’t play well, and we got into some bad habits. That’s something you really want to avoid. You want to head into the playoffs feeling good about yourself, and feeling positive about the things you’ve been doing. We’ve got to learn from what we did here. Obviously, this was far from good enough.”

Follow me on Twitter @MarkLazerus.

Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com