Avalanche 4, Blackhawks 2: Defenseman Tyson Barrie's power-play goal with 7:10 left in the third period snapped a tie and Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves to lead visiting Colorado to its third straight victory.

Ryan O'Reilly scored his team-leading 24th goal and added an assist while Maxime Talbot also tallied for the Avalanche, who defeated Chicago for the third time in four meetings this season and trail the Blackhawks by one point for second place in the Central Division. Paul Stastny added an empty-netter and defenseman Erik Johnson recorded three assists.

Captain Jonathan Toews registered his 22nd goal and Ben Smith also scored for the Blackhawks, who fell two points behind first-place St. Louis in the Central with their second loss in three contests since the Olympic break. Corey Crawford made 10 of his 17 saves in the second period.

Talbot and Smith traded second-period goals as each scored his first in eight games. Talbot deflected Johnson's shot past Crawford at 2:49 before Smith wheeled out of the right corner, fended off a slash by Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog and beat Varlamov high to the short side during a delayed penalty with 3:08 left.

After O'Reilly wired a shot between Crawford's pads at 1:23 of the third period, Toews finished off a nifty passing sequence by the Blackhawks with a power-play goal 5:54 later. Barrie, who scored two goals - including the winner - in Colorado's 3-2 overtime victory over Chicago on Jan. 14, scored on a slap shot from the right faceoff circle.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago LW Brandon Saad replaced RW Marian Hossa, who is expected to miss two to three weeks with an upper-body injury, on the top line with Toews and RW Patrick Sharp, who assisted on the captain's goal. ... Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon, the favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, extended his point streak to 12 games with an assist on Stastny's goal - the longest streak by a rookie since Stastny's NHL-record run of 20 games set in 2006-07. MacKinnon has five goals and 12 assists during his streak. ... Chicago on Tuesday acquired Ds David Rundblad and Mathieu Brisebois from Phoenix for a second-round pick in this June's draft. Brisebois will report to Rockford of the American Hockey League.