Avalanche defeat Oilers in shootout, tie franchise record with 52nd win

EDMONTON --Darcy Kuemper made 49 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in a shootout at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Kuemper made 11 saves in overtime, including eight during an Edmonton power play after Nathan MacKinnon was called for slashing Connor McDavid. Colorado did not have a shot on goal in overtime.
"I thought the [penalty] killers did a great job," Kuemper said. "It was a tough situation going up against those four guys in overtime on the kill. But the killers did a great job and allowed me to be aggressive and see the shots. I was just trying to play the same way and not change anything."
Kuemper stopped McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the shootout.
"I thought he was great, especially on the power play at the end of the game, it's a big moment, that and the shootout," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought he was outstanding right from the start. He had a great start to the game, and he carried that through the night. He was tough to beat. I thought their guy was pretty good too."
MacKinnon scored the only goal in the shootout, after scoring the game-tying goal in the third period for the Avalanche (52-14-6), who won their sixth in a row and 52nd game of the season, tying a franchise record for the most wins set in 2000-01 and 2013-14.

Colorado moved two points ahead of the Florida Panthers for first place in the NHL.
"For me, it's the buy-in from our group, and they've approached most days with a real business-like attitude and focus on where we're trying to get to as a team and they've been getting rewarded for it," Bednar said.
Warren Foegele scored, and Mikko Koskinen made 33 saves for the Oilers (42-25-6), who had won six straight and nine in a row at home.
Edmonton is four points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and seven points behind the Calgary Flames for first.
"I thought we played a good game, but obviously, you never like a loss," McDavid said. "I thought we should have found a way to get two [points] and only found a way to get one. It's always disappointing that way, but there's a lot of things to like in that one."

Colorado was playing the second game of a back-to-back, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-4 in overtime on Friday, and hit the post three times in the first period while outshooting Edmonton 11-10.
The Oilers outshot the Avalanche 16-5 in the second period.
"I thought it was a very exciting game for our fans," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "As a coach standing behind our players, I saw everybody lay it on the line and compete at a very high level. We got an important point out of that game, though obviously, we wanted two.
"We lost the skills competition in the shootout. We had chances to win that game and I am proud of the effort that our players put forth. It was a playoff-like feel to that game."
Foegele gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 5:24 of the third period, tipping in a point shot from Darnell Nurse.

Kuemper made an outstanding save on Jesse Puljujarvi at 10:18 on a cross-crease pass from McDavid to keep it a one-goal game.
"I think it [was] Connor coming down [and] I was just trying to stay patient on him because he has such a quick release, you don't want to get too far ahead of it in case he shoots it," Kuemper said. "Once he passed it, I was able to stretch out and make the save."
MacKinnon tied it 1-1 at 14:53, scoring on a rebound after Devon Toews' point shot hit teammate Valeri Nichushkin in the slot.
"I felt good, and the team played really well in front of me," Koskinen said. "That makes my job pretty easy, and it was like a playoff kind of game. There weren't too many quality chances and I really like how we played."
NOTES:McDavid had his 15-game point streak end (29 points; 13 goals, 16 assists). … Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard had one shot on goal in 18:31 of ice time after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury. … MacKinnon has scored seven points (four goals, three assists) during a four-game streak. … Kuemper is the fifth goalie this season to make at least 49 saves in a game, joining the Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets (62 saves in a 6-0 loss to the Flames on Jan. 26), Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks (53 in a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 12), and Samuel Montembeault (53 in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 20) and Jake Allen (51 in a 4-2 win against the Maple Leafs on March 26) of the Montreal Canadiens. … Edmonton's nine-game home win streak tied a franchise record set in 2016-17. … Kuemper's 11 saves tied an NHL overtime record since 3-on-3 was established in 2005-06, joining then-Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (March 14, 2009, against the Ottawa Senators).