If you like high-scoring hockey games, Friday’s was for you.
Despite the Edmonton Oilers fighting back multiple times on Friday evening against the Colorado Avalanche, they fell 5-4. Let’s take a look at what happened in the last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break!
It wasn’t a great start for the Oilers , more specifically, Stuart Skinner, as Nathan MacKinnon’s shot from the top of the faceoff dot midway through the first period beat the Oilers’ netminder five-hole.
The Oilers had a power play of their own and less than a minute later off the faceoff, Leon Draisaitl scored his league-leading 39th goal of the season on the one-timer. It wasn’t from his usual spot, but it got the job done.
Just over a minute later, the Avalanche re-took the lead, as Makar was found late in the rush, handcuffing Skinner for his 21st goal of the season. But once again, the Oilers answered almost immediately, as Corey Perry got his own rebound and roofed it backhand to tie the game.
With just under two minutes left in the first period, the Oilers blew coverage on a rush, leading to a 2-on-1 of sorts. MacKinnon passed it over to Artturi Lehkonen, who gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead going into the first intermission.
The fourth Avalanche goal was ugly. Nearly seven minutes into the second period on an Oiler power play, Evan Bouchard carelessly attempted to drop it to Connor McDavid, with Parker Kelly stealing the puck. Kelly passed it to Makar, who made no mistake in beating Calvin Pickard for his second of the game.
On the same power play, Perry made a strong move to the front of the net. His shot was stopped initially but squeaked through Mackenzie Blackwood and into the back of the net for Perry’s second of the game.
Like Makar and Perry, Draisaitl scored his second of the game during four-on-four action. With just over four minutes left, Draisaitl intercepted the puck in his own end to start a rush, eventually getting the puck in the offensive zone, making a strong move, and scoring from his knees for his 40th of the season.
With just under four and a half minutes left in the period, Zach Hyman’s pass to a trailing Oiler was disrupted by Martin Nečas. That led to a 2-on-1, with Calvin Pickard saving the initial shot. However, no one picked up Nečas on the backcheck, with the forward tapping in an easy goal for the game-winner.
Takeaways…
The Oilers penalty kill was… something in this game. For the fourth consecutive game, the Oilers allowed a goal on the penalty kill, the fifth consecutive penalty they were unable to kill. However, they killed off the next four penalties they took, including a massive 5 on 3 in a 4-4 game in the third period.
As for their power play, it was good statistically, but not really. They scored on the first one thanks to a quick play off the faceoff. Late on their second power play, Perry managed to score but make no mistake, the first minute and 40 seconds of this power play did not look good. Neither did their other two power plays.
Stuart Skinner had a rough game. At times, you can excuse his sub-.900 save percentage because some goals aren’t his fault, but the first two in this game absolutely needed to be saved. He played just 20 minutes with three goals allowed on nine shots for a .750 save percentage. Calvin Pickard came in and played well.
Whenever the Avalanche and Oilers play, it feels like it’s the game’s best versus the game’s best. The high-octane game saw Nathan MacKinnon pick up a goal and three assists while Leon Draisaitl picked up two goals. That means MacKinnon moves to four points up on Draisaitl for the Art Ross lead.
With the loss, the Oilers moved to 34-16-4 with 72 points. Had they won this game, it would’ve only been the second time in franchise history they swept the season series against the Avalanche. Despite the loss, the Oilers go into the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the top spot in the Pacific Division, even if the Vegas Golden Knights win on Saturday, as the Oilers will have the tiebreaker for games played.
It’s a long break though, as the Oilers don’t play again until Feb. 22 against the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia. That’s the easiest game of the five-game road trip, as the Oilers face the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Carolina Hurricanes.
