Game 3 Recap: Avalanche Show Resilience in 4-2 Win

Three down, one to go.
The Colorado Avalanche are only one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on Saturday night at Rogers Place. Colorado leads the best-of-seven series 3-0.

J.T. Compher secured the Avalanche win late in the third period, while Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal. Pavel Francouz made 27 saves on 29 shots in his second-straight start of the series.
For Edmonton Connor McDavid and Ryan McLeod scored. Mike Smith made 39 saves on 43 shots.

REGULATION SUMMARY:

The Avalanche dropped to a 1-0 deficit just 38 seconds into the game as McDavid put his team on the board scoring on the first shot of the game in his first shift. On a wall battle, Zach Hyman chipped the puck out and McDavid cruised in, stickhandled and fired his shot short side of Francouz.
Despite not converting on a five-minute power play - as a result of Evander Kane's boarding major on Nazem Kadri at 1:06 - and a subsequent power play at 9:36 for Darnell Nurse's delay of game penalty, Colorado equalized the score 1-1 at 16:12 with a strike from Nichushkin. From a sharp angle and after prying the puck free, Nichushkin sent a shot into the slot which deflected off Nurse's stick and over Smith for the equalizer.

Colorado doubled its lead 2-1 early in the second period on another tally from Nichushkin. Off a faceoff from Nathan MacKinnon, the puck dropped back to Devon Toews at the point where he fired a shot on net. The puck deflected off an Oilers defenseman and shot out to the right faceoff circle. Nichushkin swooped in and sniped his shot past Smith to give the Avalanche their first lead of the game.
The Oilers evened the score back up 2-2 at 7:34 in the second period on an unassisted goal from Ryan McLeod. With a loose puck, McLeod took his space in the slot and snapped a shot to the side of Francouz's glove.
The Avalanche were then tasked with killing off a penalty against Edmonton as Compher was called for tripping at 10:32. Just as the Oilers power play was killed off, Compher jetted out of the box, won a wall battle over Evan Bouchard from an Andrew Cogliano chip up ice and squeaked his shot through Smith's legs to restore the lead for the Avalanche at 12:42.

Down by a goal, Edmonton pushed and pulled Smith from the net in exchange for the extra skater with three minutes left in the period, but the Avalanche held their chances off and sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Rantanen with just 35 seconds on the clock.

IN NET:

Francouz made 27 saves on 29 shots as he recorded his fifth-straight playoff win during this run and made his second-straight start.
In the first period, Francouz came up with eight saves on nine shots. In the second period, the Czech netminder made a perfect 13 including coming up with big stops on a late push by the Oilers in the waning minutes of the frame.

In the final frame, Francouz made six saves on seven and came up with clutch stops when the score was tied 2-2, including gloving a McDavid chance on the power play.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Nichushkin scored his fourth and fifth goals of the postseason.
• Compher buried his fifth goal of the postseason.
• Rantanen scored his fourth goal of the playoffs.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
• Kadri did not return after being boarded by Kane and only skated in a 37-second shift. Per Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar postgame, "[Kadri] will be out for the remainder of the series at least."
• Nico Sturm drew in the lineup for Nicolas Aube-Kubel making his first appearance since Game 2 of the Second Round against St. Louis.
• Aube-Kubel, Ryan Murray, Kurtis MacDermid, Andre Burakovsky, Samuel Girard (upper body) and Darcy Kuemper (upper body) were scratches for Colorado.

NEXT GAME:

The Western Conference Final between the Avalanche and Oilers continues in Edmonton with Game 4 on Monday night at Rogers Place. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.