Patrick Kane's points streak stopped at 26 by Avalanche

Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche found a perfect way to snap Blackhawks star Patrick Kane's franchise record points streak.

Varlamov stopped 29 shots for his first shutout of the season, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-0 victory over Chicago on Tuesday night and ending Kane's streak at 26 games.

Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who won their third straight to cap a perfect four-day road trip to Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago. Zach Redmond scored in the second period and Gabriel Landeskog added an empty-netter with 1:57 left.

"We didn't focus on [Kane's streak], we focused on winning the hockey game," Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. "I thought we did a good job offensively, defensively, in the neutral zone.

Didn't have it tonight, so now I can just focus on playing hockey. It was a good run, but when you have to talk about it every day it gets taxing.- Blackhawks' Patrick Kane on the end of his 26-game points streak

"I liked our game tonight, and our goalie was really solid in key moments in the game."

Varlamov was sharp when needed in earning his 19th career shutout and third against Chicago. But for most of the game, Colorado limited Chicago's chances, and Kane.

"Didn't have it tonight, so now I can just focus on playing hockey," Kane said. "It was a good run, but when you have to talk about it every day it gets taxing."

Once the Avalanche got a 2-0 lead, they taxed all the Blackhawks with a frustrating defensive style.

Blackhawks' killer

Varlamov was sharp in his two previous games, allowing just three goals on 79 shots in Nashville and St. Louis. He improved to 11-3-0 against the Blackhawks, including a 54-save shutout in Chicago last January.

The Avalanche goalie wasn't nearly as busy in this one. Even if Varlamov said Kane's line, with Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin, "had a couple good chances," Kane was held without a shot.

Kane's streak was the longest since Mats Sundin's 30-game stretch in 1992-93. The Chicago right wing had 16 goals and 24 assists during the run, and has points in all but three of the Blackhawks' 32 games.

"The fact he was able to sustain it for this length of time was amazing," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "So it was pretty spectacular in today's game to be on the board in 26 games, and it was fun to be a part of it."

Chicago's Corey Crawford, who entered with back-to-back shutouts, had 24 saves.

Defenceman Rob Scuderi made his debut with the Blackhawks after being acquired on Monday from Pittsburgh for defenceman Trevor Daley. The 36-year-old Scuderi was paired with Michal Rozsival.

Varlamov made two of his toughest saves late in the second period.

He stopped Bryan Bickell's point-blank one-timer, set up by Andrew Shaw's perfect pass, with a right pad save with about 2:30 left. A minute later, he blocked Teuvo Teravainen's drive from the slot.

Varlamov wasn't tested heavily in the third, but made an alert kick save on Dennis Rasmussen with just over three minutes remaining.