After a whirlwind weekend which saw the return of Nazem Kadri and big shootout wins over the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, things settled back down into a game every-other-day routine with the Edmonton Oilers in town. In a possible first round match up, this game showed that Edmonton still can pose some problems as the Oilers pulled out a 4-3 win in a game that was marred with drama.
The Game
Early game momentum carried for the Avalanche with Ross Colton opening the scoring just 32 seconds into
the game. The Oilers responded with what they do best — quickly converting on the power play. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the beneficiary of a slick Connor McDavid pass and the game was suddenly tied.
Before the end of the period, though, the Avalanche got the lead back on a power play goal of their own as Martin Nečas gathered a loose puck and fired it home from his new spot on the left circle. It looked like they’d take the momentum into the first intermission but the Oilers got their own period bookend goal with 24 seconds left as Jack Roslovic was found all alone by Leon Draisaitl in front of Mackenzie Blackwood to even the score at 2-2.
Colorado decided to start the second period on hard mode and continued to leave the net front uncovered. Darnell Nurse found Nugent-Hopkins for his second goal of the night. This middle frame was not going Colorado’s way but after killing a penalty successfully the Avalanche earned their own power play to try and tie the game before the period ended.
With about one minute to go Nathan MacKinnon had a violent collision with Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram which caused the netminder to leave the game. After a very lengthy review MacKinnon was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct, the first in his nearly 1000 game career. The contact was heavy but MacKinnon was directed into the crease by Nurse, which made it a tough call to swallow. Thus, Edmonton held on to their 3-2 lead at the second intermission.
Colorado got some new life after killing the entire major penalty to begin the third period and then were rewarded when Val Nichushkin continued his renaissance and found the equalizer on a great pas from Sam Malinski. That joy was short-lived when Edmonton played pass-and-catch on the power play between Draisaitl and McDavid to which the latter cashed in on to take the lead once again.
The Avalanche got some looks with the net empty but were not able to convert and Edmonton secured their 4-3 win.
Takeaways
Colorado was down to 10 forwards following MacKinnon’s ejection when Ross Colton also left the game due to an upper-body injury. Post game commentary didn’t make the ailment sound too serious but we’ll see when Colton is able to return in the lineup as the Avalanche are starting to stack up some missing forwards.
Games like this where the defensive effort was lacking early on underscore that Colorado doesn’t have a heavy competitive advantage on the back end like they did years prior. Also, the lack of focus after two big divisional wins seemed to creep up again before the jumbled lines due to aforementioned missing forwards made a comeback attempt more difficult.
Upcoming
A trip to the Pacific Northwest to face the Seattle Kraken at 8 p.m. MT on Thursday, March 12th.
