CHICAGO _ For two periods Sunday, the Blackhawks looked disinterested in playing the Avalanche, one of the worst teams in the league, but the Hawks used a stellar third period to overcome a two-goal deficit and come away with a 6-3 victory.
And in a sequence that hearkened back to the 2013 Stanley Cup title, they scored goals 17 seconds apart _ twice.
The Hawks were down 3-1 in the third when captain Jonathan Toews redirected a shot from Duncan Keith at 10:17 for his 19th goal of the year. What was surprising about the play was that it stood after a coach's challenge contending Toews was offside as the puck entered the zone.
Toews appeared to not clear the blue line before Richard Panik carried the puck into the zone, but the NHL said it was not conclusive that Toews was still offside the moment Panik's stick touch the puck while he was controlling it across the blue line.
The Hawks were just getting started. Seventeen seconds later at 10:34, Richard Panik cleaned up a loose puck in the slot that beat goaltender Jeremy Smith for his 19th goal of the season. Then 17 seconds after that, Artemi Panarin scored from almost the same place as Panik.
For good measure, Toews would add his second goal of the game a few minutes later at 13:19 short side on Smith off a feed from Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Hawks nearly wore out "Chelsea Dagger" in the third period.
Marcus Kruger added an empty-net goal with 1.6 seconds remaining.
The Hawks jumped on the Avalanche in the early moments of the first period and dominated in chances early and converted when Patrick Kane scored on a 2-on-1 at 4:33 with Artemi Panarin. Kane notched 32nd goal off a feed from Panarin, who got on the break thanks to a good cross-ice pass from center Nick Schmaltz.
But the Hawks let their quality slip over the rest of the period and allowed a pair of goals from Mikhail Grigorenko.
Grigorenko's first goal came during a sequence that began with Brent Seabrook losing the puck behind the net after he was tripped. The puck came to goaltender Scott Darling, who swatted it into the slot right to Grigorenko, who fired it past Darling at 8:14.
A few minutes later Grigorenko scored on a shot around Seabrook on a rush chance for the Avalanche at 15:36. It was Grigorenko's ninth goal.
The Hawks' issues continued in the second period when Sven Andrighetto redirected a shot from Mark Barberio at 16:24 for a 3-1 lead.
For the Hawks, Marian Hossa was missing his second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury. Johnny Oduya is out as he rests on the tail end of a back-to-back set of games.
