MacKinnon, Avalanche defeat Oilers in OT

DENVER --Nathan MacKinnon scored 52 seconds into overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena on Monday.

MacKinnon took a pass from Cale Makar on a 2-on-1 and beat Mike Smith glove side.
"I kind of got tangled up with [Connor] McDavid, then the puck was loose and two guys go for it for them," MacKinnon said. "Cale makes an unreal play, stuff Cale always does. Great sauce to me and I managed to score."
Mikko Rantanen scored two power-play goals, Makar had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for the Avalanche (45-13-5), who have won four in a row after losing four of their previous five.
"I thought [Kuemper] was really good," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Darcy made some big saves. There's one down low through the crease that he got over on, put his pad on, and the guy couldn't elevate it. It was in tight. A 2-on-1. I mean he made some real nice saves. He looked better as the game went on, too. I thought he was really good in the third."

Kailer Yamamoto had a goal and an assist, and Evander Kane scored for the Oilers (35-24-4), who had won five straight. Smith made 28 saves.
"I thought we were dialed in and I was pleased with the way we competed," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I don't think we gave up a 5-on-5 goal tonight, and the first two goals that went in went off people's bodies that, you know, those things happen in hockey. We're right there against the team that's leading the NHL in points and in a tough building. Happy that we got to a point."
Rantanen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 12:42 of the first period from near the right post after his cross-crease pass deflected back to him off the stick of Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie.
"Mikko's been amazing all season. He's one of the best players in the league, as well," MacKinnon said. "He always finds a way to score power-play goals. I don't know what the numbers are, but I feel like every year he's up there in power-play goals."
Yamamoto tied it 1-1 during a delayed penalty at 4:07 of the second period, taking a diagonal pass from Leon Draisaitl and shooting into an open net.
"What I think we're doing is we're establishing a way that we want to play. We're not perfect. There's mistakes that get made," Woodcroft said. "But on the whole, I think we're adhering to principles in our game that I think will set us up for success down the stretch run into playoffs."

Rantanen scored his second power-play goal to make it 2-1 at 6:24 when his shot hit Darnell Nurse and deflected through Smith.
"I liked our first period. I thought we had good jump, did some good things. Power play was outstanding. Penalty kill was good," Bednar said. "That's the difference in the hockey game for me. And I liked our third. I'll be honest, I liked our third. We got more physical, more involved."
Kane tied it 2-2 at 9:01 of the second after Yamamoto stole the puck from Josh Manson and sent him a pass down low.
NOTES:Avalanche defenseman Ryan Murray left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury. … Draisaitl (three goals, five assists) and Kane (five goals, two assists) each extended his point streak to five games. … McDavid extended his point streak to six games (six goals, six assists). … Yamamoto has scored nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past six games. … Colorado forward Andre Burakovsky played in his 500th NHL game. … Nazem Kadri had the secondary assist on Rantanen's first goal for his 500th NHL point (214 goals, 286 assists in 728 games).