Necas tied it 2-2 with a tip-in of Cale Makar‘s point shot with Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood pulled for the extra skater. Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen then scored in the shootout to win it.

Makar had a goal and an assist, and Valeri Nichushkin had two assists for the (46-26-4), who had lost two in a row after winning 12 of their previous 14. Wedgewood made 22 saves.

Colorado extended its lead to seven points over the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division. Both teams have six games remaining. The Avalanche also pulled to within six points of the Dallas Stars for second. Dallas has two games in hand.

Connor Murphy had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Mikheyev scored a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks (21-44-10), who have lost four in a row. Spencer Knight made 29 saves.

Mikheyev gave Chicago a 1-0 lead after scoring on the penalty kill at 14:39 of the first period. Mikheyev moved into the offensive zone on the right wing, skated in and went backhand to forehand to score. It was his third short-handed goal of the season.

Murphy extended it to 2-0 at 8:17 of the second period, scoring from the right face-off circle after taking a pass from Connor Bedard, who was below the goal line.

Makar cut it to 2-1 at 9:17 of the third period. He took a pass from MacKinnon in the right circle and put a shot past the glove of Knight, setting a new career high with his 29th goal of the season.

Colorado forward Jonathan Drouin left and did not return after playing 6:16 of the first period because of a lower-body injury.