PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Avalanche

The Edmonton Oilers return to Rogers Place on Friday night to host the Colorado Avalanche in the first of back-to-back games this weekend. The Oilers conclude the back-to-back on Saturday night in the Battle of Alberta against the Flames.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet West at 7:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Avalanche

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers play host to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at Rogers Place having been shut out by the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars 5-0 on Wednesday to cap off a winless two-game road trip.

As Edmonton's last defeat in the Lone Star State proved, when you’re playing against the best teams in the NHL, the ice becomes a lot smaller and your mistakes – no matter how small or great – certainly come with a cost.

On Wednesday, the Stars made the Oilers pay for their errors during a four-goal second period that was partly constructed by Edmonton’s own doing, committing a handful of turnovers and misplays with the puck that quickly ended up in the back of their net despite playing a solid first period and a half at American Airlines Center.

Netminder Jake Oettinger made 35 saves to shutout the Oilers, while Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm had their respective personal point streaks of eight and five games ended in the defeat that was Edmonton's second in a row.

“Obviously not the way we want to play hockey,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said post-game. “I think we were all pretty happy with our first period. I thought we were skating well and created a lot of chances, and then they get that second one and we completely go off script and that's just not our game.

“That's not how we're going to win at any point in the season, especially with nine games left against one of the best teams in the league, so it's disappointing. But we’ve got a couple of weeks to figure that out and make sure that doesn't happen again. This should be a good learning lesson for us.”

Friday’s tilt against another powerhouse from the Central in the Avalanche will be the first of back-to-back games for the Oilers this weekend that wrap up on Saturday night with the Battle of Alberta against the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

It’s the first of three back-to-backs for the Oilers over their final eight games of the regular season, which will be played over the next 14 days. The Avalanche will be their opponent for two of those games as they'll wrap up their season series on Apr. 18 in the last game of the regular season, along with challenging contests with Vancouver and Vegas still left on the docket to test their playoff mettle against playoff-calibre opposition.

“I think overall we defended well and played pretty good hockey,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There'll be some reminders of what we’ve got away from and what we can't do against good teams. Maybe we can get away from that against a team that isn't as competitive and as talented as Dallas is, but against those teams like Colorado, Vegas and Dallas, there are a lot of good teams in our conference that we cannot let that happen against.”

The Oilers and Avalanche have played some exciting matchups over the last several seasons. Each of their last four meetings has gone past regulation while six of their last seven matchups have gone to extra time, with the Oilers having a 2-0-5 record in those games despite an even 20-20 goal differential.

Nathan MacKinnon made a phenomenal last-second play in overtime to set up Artturi Lehkonen for the overtime winner with 0.5 seconds left on the clock during their last meeting on Mar. 16 at Rogers Place. The Avalanche captain is second in the NHL scoring race with 127 points – three back of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and one ahead of Oilers captain Connor McDavid.

The Art Ross Trophy race is certainly set to come down to the wire and MacKinnon is looking to win the award for the first time in his career, having finished top-five in points three separate times.