CHICAGO _ The last time Duncan Keith played before Wednesday was in a loss to the Avalanche at the United Center last month.
Keith's return to the Blackhawks from a groin injury went fine, but the result was the same: a loss to the Avalanche at the United Center. Nathan MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky scored second-period goals to lead the speedier Avs to a 4-1 victory.
Ryan Carpenter scored the lone goal for the Hawks, who dropped to 13-16-6. The Avs beat the Hawks for the third time in less than three weeks and can complete a four-game season sweep Saturday in Denver.
Corey Crawford stopped 33 shots while losing his third straight start.
The Avs started the scoring when Ian Cole blew a slap shot past Crawford midway through the first period. The Hawks tied it a little over a minute later on Carpenter's second goal of the season.
Alex DeBrincat picked up a turnover by the Avs' Mark Barberio and passed to Carpenter, whose snipe sailed over the shoulder of goalie Pavel Francouz.
MacKinnon put the Avalanche back up with 12 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the second period when he slipped past Keith and sent a quick wrist shot past Crawford for his 21st goal of the season.
Burakovsky, who was out with an injury for the first two games against the Hawks, scored less than three minutes later from nearly the same spot on a similar shot to give the Avs a two-goal lead.
DeBrincat appeared to escape injury late in the third period when a late hit by Sam Girard sent him flying into the end boards. No penalty was called, but Erik Gustafsson went after Girard and received two minutes for roughing.
Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal to complete the scoring.
