It’s not easy to stay in a game when you can count your shifts on one hand, but Gavin Brindley made the most of his final shift on Saturday evening.

And boy did he need it.

After not having scored a goal since Dec. 11, Brindley was the hero against the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring the game-winning goal in the third period to help the Avalanche secure a bounce-back victory at Ball Arena by the score of 3-1. It was Brindley’s first goal in 25 games and came on just his fifth (and final) shift of the game.

Not exactly easy to stay in a game when you’re mostly sitting on the bench, but he was able to find a way.

“Big goal, and I was so happy to see it,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We get in tight games and (also) Bardakov loses ice time here and there, and it’s not even something I’m not seeing from those guys. I just rely heavily on, we had three veteran lines going…but I liked what they had been doing in their spot duty prior to that, and I wanted to get them out there another couple times. It was a great shift.”

Although he didn’t register a point on the goal, Zakhar Bardakov played a key role in making everything happen, making some composed plays to keep the puck alive. Eventually, a Sam Malinski point shot found its way through to the net, and Brindley was there to clean up the rebound. Cale Makar would add his second of the evening with the net empty to seal the deal for the Avalanche.

It was an important goal, not just for the team, but for Brindley.

“That was a big one,” Brindley said after the game. “Just getting hurt in that New York game kind of set some things back. Good to just get back in the swing of things and that was just a big one, confidence-wise. Hopefully (can) keep going.”

With the Minnesota Wild losing in regulation to the Utah Mammoth last night, the win extends Colorado’s lead in the Central Division back up to seven points. After scoring on the power play in Utah, the Avalanche have been shut out in both games since on the man advantage, although Makar’s first goal came just seconds after the power play ended.

Makar said he was “hoping” it would have been a power-play goal rather than an even-strength marker, if only to boost the confidence of the group, which Bednar seemed to agree with.

“They got us a huge goal and it took two minutes and four seconds to get it,” he joked. “We’ll try to shrink that time down to about 30 seconds or whatever, but we were challenging them at the net.”

The Avalanche will now head out on the road for three games, with the March 6 trade deadline closing in soon.

Avalanche 3, Blackhawks 1

What happened: The Avalanche controlled most of the play and eventually were able to sneak a few past goalie Spencer Knight.

What went right: When the Avalanche were set up in the zone on the power play, it was Martin Necas on the half wall with Nathan MacKinnon down low along the goal line. Although it didn’t lead to any goals, the Blackhawks were giving MacKinnon a ton of room, allowing him to take the puck to the net on multiple occasions. If this new setup allows MacKinnon to have a bit more room, eventually, the leading goal scorer in the NHL is going to take advantage of it.

What went wrong: On the flip side, Colorado has been very undisciplined coming out of the break, taking 16 penalties in the last three games. Bednar isn’t worried about it right now. “I think it’s easily fixable,” he said. “The (Minnesota) game we took a lot of dumb penalties…we’ve been a disciplined team to this point in the year and I think we can continue to be.”

Avalanche goal scorers: Makar (16, 17), Brindley (6)

Blackhawks goal scorers: Bedard (25)

Between the pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood could have taken a nap at times during this one, but when called upon, came up big with 14 saves.

What’s next: The Avalanche hit the road for three, starting with a game in Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m. Monday.