O’Connor scores another short-handed goal, Avalanche cruise to 4-0 win over Bedard and Blackhawks

DENVER — Logan O’Connor scored a short-handed goal for the second straight game, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 18 shots and the Colorado Avalanche cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night in their home opener.

Ryan Johansen, Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon also scored to help the Avalanche improve to 4-0.

Colorado kept top pick Connor Bedard in check as the smooth-skating teenager didn’t record a shot on goal.

Georgiev was sharp in posting his 14th shutout. The Avalanche outshot the Blackhawks 41-18 in a game where they scored short-handed, on the power play and twice at full strength.

Chicago returns home after finishing a five-game trip 2-3. Petr Mrazek was under constant pressure and finished with 37 saves.

Toews put the Avalanche up 3-0 in the second period when he knocked the puck into an empty net off a pass from Valeri Nichushkin. It’s the first goal of the season for Toews, who signed a seven-year extension worth $50.75 million last week.

The Avalanche took 22 shots in the first period and grabbed a 2-0 lead. O’Connor got things going by zooming out of the zone, taking a feed from Andrew Cogliano and beating Mrazek with a shot over his glove. O’Connor also scored a short-handed goal in Seattle on Tuesday.

He’s the fifth player in Colorado/Quebec history to tally a short-handed goal in back-to-back games and first since captain Gabriel Landeskog in March 2013.

Bedard, the top pick in the most recent draft, went against his fifth straight No. 1 selection in MacKinnon (No. 1 in 2013). Bedard joins Nico Hischier (No. 1 in 2017) as the only players in NHL history to meet five or more No. 1 selections over their first five career games, according to NHL research.

So far, Bedard has squared off against Sidney Crosby (No. 1 in…