Avalanche Show 'Scrappy' Effort in 2-1 OT Loss to Oilers

The Colorado Avalanche picked up a point, but suffered a 2-1 loss in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at Ball Arena whichended their win streak at five games. With the point (and a Minnesota Wild regulation 3-1 loss to Winnipeg) the Avalanche clinched home ice for the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For the Avalanche, Ben Meyers scored. Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 38 of the 40 shots he faced.
The Avalanche are now 48-25-6 for their season record and have 105 points and are still atop of the Central Division standings. Dallas ranks in second place with 104 points and the Avalanche still hold the advantage as they have more wins and a game in hand.
For the Oilers, Evan Bouchard netted the overtime winner, Mattias Ekholm scored. In between the pipes, Stuart Skinner made 28 saves on 29 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Tuesday night's matchup featured a tilt between two of the hottest teams in the NHL as Colorado entered the game on a five-game win streak, while Edmonton was riding a seven-game winning streak and extended it to eight with the OT victory.
Despite Tuesday's contest showcasing five 100-point scores (Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen for the Avalanche and Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the Oilers), the game wasn't a high-octane offense barn burner, but rather a grinding, tight-checking match that emulated postseason competition as the margins of error were razor thin.
"I thought we're engaged straight away," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "We were playing hard, it was a pretty tight-checking game for the most part. I think the high-danger chances were low. I didn't think we created enough to take control of the game, but I thought we did a good job on the checking side. It was a pretty good hockey game… Good point. Good effort from our team."

And while the Avalanche weren't able to pick up the two-point victory, the team has a lot to be proud of. They held their own against the Oilers, who aren't nearly as banged up as Colorado, who is still without forwards Darren Helm (lower body), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body) and defensemen Cale Makar (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body).
"This team is scrappy," Bednar said. "They are a resilient group. They grind, they work, they find a different way to win every night. It's just there's a competitive group and lots of heart. Teams have gone through their fair share of adversity at this point and are still hanging around trying to wrap up the division. I thought tonight was no different. We didn't get the result we wanted but it's a big point."
The Avalanche and Oilers got off to a relatively low-event first period as both teams found the back of the net for a 1-1 score with the Avalanche holding a 9-8 edge in shots.
Just 4:52 into play, carried the puck into the faceoff circle and as he was looking to center it, Edmonton forward Nick Bjugstad dove and scraped the puck away from Meyers with his stick. But his stick turned and the puck was directed on net and slipped through Skinner's pads on the fluke play that gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.

The lead was short lived as Edmonton responded 36 seconds later. Warren Foegele skated the puck into the Avalanche's defensive zone and sent a horizontal pass to Ryan McLeod in the right faceoff circle. McLeod dropped a pass to above the circle for Ekholm, who blasted his one-timer shot past Georgiev for the 1-1 equalizer at 5:28.
The first period's sleepy start didn't carry over as the intensity amplified in the second period, despite the score remaining 1-1. The Oilers carried much of the puck possession and held a 17-7 shot advantage as they finished the frame with six - unsuccessful - minutes on the power play.
Early in the middle frame both teams had unsuccessful power play attempts (Klim Kostin delay of game at 2:30 and Bowen Byram slashing at 5:16), but both sides continued to generate chances. Just over the 11-minute mark, Connor McDavid was sprung on a breakaway. As the NHL's leading scorer (152 points, 64 goals) approached Georgiev his stickhandling lost momentum and the Avalanche netminder was able to deny the chance.
Late in the frame at 14:46, Devon Toews was sent to the box for a four-minute double minor for high-sticking on Zach Hyman, as Toews' stick struck Hyman's chin and drew blood. The Avalanche's penalty kill came up with an extraordinary effort against Edmonton's league-leading power play (32.5%), including an effort where Logan O'Connor blocked a shot on the inside of the leg and remained in long enough for Colorado to clear the puck out of the zone.
As the penalty expired, the atmosphere at Ball Arena was electric as they backed the team for the momentous kill.
Both sides battled hard in the third period as they exerted yet another intense, tight-checking effort, but neither side was able to add the go-ahead strike. Georgiev continued his sensational effort and even garnered "Geor-gie!" chants from the crowd.
Colorado received two power plays in the final frame - at 4:40 on McLeod and at 14:53 on Kane as both were called for high sticking - but despite some lethal looks, the Avalanche's power play was unable to solve Skinner.

OVERTIME:

Early in overtime, the Oilers received a power play as Byram hooked McDavid 1:09 into the extra period. On Edmonton's overtime man advantage, McDavid fed Bouchard in the slot near the right faceoff circle and the defenseman sniped his shot to the far top corner over Georgiev's shoulder to seal the two-point victory.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Meyers put away his fourth goal of the season and his third goal in his last four games.
• Byram returned to the lineup after being sidelined for two games due to illness.
• Georgiev made his 59th start of the season for the Avalanche, while his record fell to 38-16-6.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
• Kurtis MacDermid, Darren Helm (lower-body injury) Cale Makar (lower-body injury), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche play their final home game of the regular season (game No. 81) at Ball Arena on Thursday night as they host Winnipeg. The puck drops between the Avs and Jets at 6:30 p.m. MT.