Recap: Avalanche top Oilers in the last second of overtime

1 month ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports


A big two points secured. After a successful start to the four-game road trip the Colorado Avalanche faced another tough test against the Edmonton Oilers. It was a tighter low scoring affair early on but in the late stages of the game the offense woke up capped with a buzzer beater goal in overtime in this 3-2 Avalanche victory.
The Game
It was a scoreless first period with Edmonton grabbing a slight advantage in shots 10-7. As both teams traded power plays into the second frame the score still held at zeroes. Then five minutes into the second period Jonathan Drouin was awarded a penalty shot but Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner made the save.
Finally at 10:38 Sean Walker broke through to put the Avalanche on the board off of a great feed in the neutral zone from Artturi Lehkonen. Josh Manson and Vincent Desharnais has a fight at the end of the period but Alexandar Georgiev stopped all nine Oilers shots that frame to preserve the 1-0 lead.
Early in the third period it seemed Leon Draisaitl scored to tie the game but it was determined that he kicked the puck past Georgiev, thus no goal. The Oilers, however, did convert the game’s next score as at 5:46 Warren Foegele got the puck through a screen on Georgiev to put the score at 1-1.
Edmonton took the lead at 11:48 from Sam Carrick who got position in the front of the net. Then just three minutes later Casey Mittelstadt found Walker cutting to the net to tie the game against 2-2. Each team tried to end the game in regulation but it was destined for overtime.
In the extra frame both teams had their looks but it was a more cautious approach in general. A shootout was on the horizon but Nathan MacKinnon found Lehkonen at the net front a with a good stick he scored with one second left on the clock for a 3-2 overtime Avalanche victory.

Takeaways
It wasn’t the explosive night in the Art Ross race the networks were hoping for with Connor McDavid held off the scoresheet entirely. It was a quiet night for MacKinnon too but he did get the primary assist on the game winning goal to put his total points at 116, still two ahead of Nikita Kucherov.
It was the first night with a healthy lineup, although some players are still battling a flu bug, but it was a full team effort. Still, the Avalanche stars showed up and bested those of the Oilers in this first game of the upcoming mini-series of three.
Upcoming
One final game on the road at the St. Louis Blues at 6 p.m. MT on Tuesday, March 19th. ...

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