"Ray made some big saves and made them at critical times in the game," Quenneville said. "The guys have confidence in front of him when the puck starts bouncing around."

As has become the norm, the Blackhawks outshot their opponents 31-22.

"It's frustrating," Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog said. "I think we played a solid game. It's tough to come in here and play well, but we did and we had the lead for the most part. They came back and then in the end, I haven't really seen the goal, but they were hacking and whacking and it went in. So, it's frustrating."

NOTES: The Blackhawks assigned forward Brandon Bollig to their Rockford (Ill.) AHL affiliate. Bollig, 26, had appeared in 11 games this season. He had amassed zero points but 40 penalty minutes. ... Wednesday's game marked the first meeting this season between the Blackhawks and Avalanche, and the only scheduled regular-season contest in Chicago. The teams have a return engagement Friday in Denver. The Blackhawks return home to face Edmonton on Sunday before starting a four-game road trip. With Friday's return game in Colorado, the Avs begin a series that will see them play seven of their next nine games at home. ... Even with the loss, Colorado still leads the overall series at 52-50-9-4.