Recap: Avalanche thwarted by Oilers comeback

1 day ago  /  Mile High Hockey  /  Read Time: 2 minutes 29 seconds

Photo by Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images


The contest ended in a 4-3 loss after a hot start. As the homestand continues, the Colorado Avalanche welcomed the Edmonton Oilers and the fans were hoping for some offensive fireworks on national TV. Goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid fit the bill but after a fast start the Avalanche couldn’t find the back of the net again and fell 4-3 on a late third period Oilers goal.
The Game
Logan O'Connor continued his momentum from the Rangers game and set the tone early with the game’s first score just over five minutes into the contest. He took a quick pass from Joel Kiviranta along the wall and drove to the net to put the Avalanche up 1-0.
After that the Avalanche had to kill a Mikko Rantanen slashing penalty but took momentum off of that as Nathan MacKinnon scored two quick goals at 10:04 and 11:58 to put the Avalanche comfortably in the lead.
Edmonton continued to work, however, and on their 13th shot of the period they finally got one past Makenzie Blackwood on a slapshot from Viktor Arvidsson with 42 seconds left in the first period. After 20 minutes of play with some early offensive fireworks the Avalanche held a 3-1 lead.
The second period was all Oilers as they built off their late score from the previous period. They received two power plays and didn’t score off of them but helped set up continued pressure. At 6:17 Brett Kulak got a screened shot through from the point for the first Edmonton score of the period. Then, of course, Connor McDavid netted the equalizer at 14:49 after an extended shift in the offensive zone. It was a new game again with a 3-3 tie after 40 minutes of play.
It was the story of too little, too late in the third period. Colorado held Edmonton to four shots and killed off their only power play but the Oilers scored the period’s only goal. Evan Bouchard got the puck through traffic and gave the Oilers their first lead at 13:05.
The Avalanche didn’t have a ton of great looks of their own outside of MacKinnon hitting the post twice. A late third period Avalanche power play was pretty ineffective and as per usual the six-on-five at the end of the game was the most urgent the home team looked but this time Stuart Skinner made the saves to secure the 4-3 Oilers victory.

Takeaways
It was Samuel Girard’s first game back after missing a week with an upper-body injury and the team’s puck movement showed improvements right away with the energetic first period. He, like the rest of the team, fell into some rust with the Oilers comeback but it was good to see an important player make a return to the lineup.
Jonathan Drouin missed a good portion of the second period after an altercation with Leon Draisaitl which put Drouin into the bench and a high hit to the face, which apparently prompted the concussion spotter. A cross-check the previous shift from Mattias Ekholm could have factored into it, too, as Drouin was shown visibly hurting on the bench. It is good he felt well enough to return but with common knowledge that Drouin isn’t playing healthy it remains to be seen if he suffered a setback.
The power play went dry again as the Avalanchd had trouble setting it up the two opportunities they had, which now puts them on a 0/16 drought in six games. The elite talent will break through eventually but these stagnant stretches are starting to cost games and they’ve lost three of those games where they didn’t convert on the man advantage.
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