GAME RECAP: Avalanche 6, Oilers 5 (OT - Game 4)

EDMONTON, AB - Thank you Oil Country, it's been one heck of a run.
The Oilers battled until the end, but ultimately fell 6-5 to the Avalanche in overtime of Game 4 of their Western Conference Finals series with the Avalanche. Colorado moves on to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since the 2000-01 season with a 4-0 series win and will face the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers.
The Avalanche advance to the Stanley Cup Finals off the stick of Artturi Lehkonen, who tipped a Makar point shot on Mike Smith and shoveled in the rebound for the series-clinching goal in the opening two minutes of overtime.
The Oilers will exit the playoffs with the top two post-season scorers, with Connor McDavid leading the way with 33 points (10G, 23A) in 16 games.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Oilers found themselves in an uphill battle early in the game.
Less than three minutes into the contest, Zack Kassian was whistled for a slashing penalty which gave Colorado the man advantage. The Avalanche wouldn't take long to make the Oilers pay.
After Zach Hyman was unable to clear the zone, the puck found its way to Makar at the point. Colorado's leading scorer floated a quick wrist shot towards the net, beating a screened Mike Smith for the game's opening tally.
The goal was Makar's fifth of the post-season and his team-leading 18th point, with Lehkonen picking up the only assist on the game's opener.

THEM'S THE BOUNCES

After a Game 3 where all the bounces seemed to go Colorado's way, a puck finally decided to ricochet in the Oilers favour. At the 3:03 mark of the second, a Makar pass to Devon Toews missed the mark and sprung Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the breakaway. The Oilers longest-serving player made no mistake, showing quick hands to beat Francouz for his sixth of the playoffs.
The Oilers kept their foot on the gas for the rest of the period. Zach Hyman narrowly missed out on his second of the game after firing a shot from the right circle off the post and out. The Oilers then got another bounce in their favour when Alex Newhook lifted a puck out of play for a delay of game call.

McDavid came through on the powerplay, picking his spot from the right circle to give the Oil a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.

AVALANCHE OF MOMENTUM

The Avalanche were never going to go away that easy.
Any time the Oilers were able to seize momentum, Colorado was there to snatch it away.
Just 31 seconds into the final period, Devon Toews fired a shot from the point which deflected off Cody Ceci and past Mike Smith to narrow the Oilers lead to 3-2. Five minutes after the Oilers regained their two-goal advantage, Colorado answered again off the stick of their captain.
With Mike Smith sprawling in the crease, Gabriel Landeskog crashed the blue paint and shoveled the puck into the back of the net for his eighth of the playoffs.
The Avalanche continued their third period attack courtesy of their top players. Nathan MacKinnon scored off the rush, just 28 seconds after leaving the penalty box, powering into the Oilers zone and lifting a shot over Smiths glove. Next it was Mikko Rantanen's turn to put the puck in the net, ripping a low shot past the Oilers goaltender while on a powerplay. In less than six minutes, Colorado turned a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 advantage.

NEVER SAY DRAI

What more can be said about the determination and toughness of Leon Draisaitl?
The German had multiple moments in the game where you could see him labouring back to the Oilers bench after various hits, hacks, and slashes from the Colorado Avalanche, but there was just no quit in the forward.
Despite some obvious physical limitations getting up and down the ice, Draisaitl continued to show why he is considered one of the best passers in the game, picking up a pair of assists on Hyman's opening goal and McDavid's powerplay marker in the second period.
After the Avalanche had narrowed the lead in the third period, Leon came up big again. The 26-year-old lumbered up the ice, finding an onrushing Hyman who clapped a change-up of a one-timer past Francouz to restore the Oilers two-goal lead.
After the Avalanche's comeback, Draisaitl was once again the straw that stirred the Oilers drink, firing a shot on Francouz which was powered home by Zack Kassian. The shot ended up being his fourth primary assist on the evening and his 32nd point of the playoffs.

MAKAR'S MARK

Colorado's Cale Maker continued to show why he's among the game's best on the blueline. The 23-year-old led the way on the ice and on the score sheet for Colorado, logging a team-high 29:03 of ice time, while adding five points (1G, 4A).
His biggest point on the night was on the eventual series winner, firing the point shot that would eventually find its way into the net off the stick of Lehkonen.
Makar now has 53 points in his first 49 playoff games, third all-time for a defenceman in their first 50 post-season games. The Norris Trophy nominee only trails Bobby Orr (66) and Brian Leetch (65) in that distinction.
Makar currently leads all Avalanche skaters with 22 points (11G, 12A) in 14 playoff games, and has notched 107 points between the regular season and post-season.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid summing up the game and the effort from the Oilers:
"I liked that there was no quit. I don't think anyone quit out there, nobody quit on each other, and that's always a good sign. But we obviously let it get away."
Draisaitl on batting through Game 4 with injury while recording four assists:
"There are lots of guys that go through painful things like that, so I'm not going to make this about myself. Lots of guys that play through certain injuries."
Draisaitl on the takeaways of making it to the Western Conference Final and where the Oilers go from here:
"I'm proud of the group to get to this point, of course. I don't think anyone necessarily expected us to be here, but that being said we expected to be here, we want to be here, and we want to be even further. I'm proud of the group, but obviously It's very disappointing and it hurts right now. But we have to make sure that we come back next season and understand how hard it is to win, go on a deep run and make that next step.
McDavid on what the Oilers were able to accomplish this season and some of the lessons learned this run:
"It feels like it's steps. Every team kind of goes through it. They become a playoff team, they get there most years then go on a bit of a run, learn that lesson and then it becomes their time to win. You look at a Colorado team that's been in that situation many times, and obviously they're knocking on the door right now. It's a step in the right direction, but that's all it is.
Draisaitl on the last month-and-a-half being something special for fans and players:
"It's the best time of the year. It's always fun being in the playoffs and competing for a Stanley Cup. With that being said, we don't play for the outside noise. That's part of it. We love playing in front of our fans, we love playing for them, but our goal is to win a Stanley Cup. If you fail at that or don't get there or get a crack at it, obviously you're disappointed. Like Connor said, we took a step but we also know how hard it is to get back to this point. We have to make sure we come in next season and make sure we're ready to go."
Draisaitl on what this run does for the Oilers organization and its younger players:
"I think it showed how our youngers guys like you mentioned - Bouchard and McLeod - took big steps this season. It's great to have young guys like that going on a deep run like we did to learn how hard it is and understand how hard it is. All of them, they're going to come back next season and be a little older, a little bit more experienced, so that's going to push our team big time."

Smith on how the game played out:
"We lost, we're done. Momentum is a crazy thing in the playoffs and it was no different tonight. We got the lead, and it seems like when we got it they come at you in waves and we couldn't withstand that, couldn't get some saves, couldn't get the bounces. Ultimately, they get another break at the end there and win the series.
Smith on how the season went for the Oilers:
"There's no participation medal. It's very disappointing. It's hard to get to this point. You look over the course of the season, exhibition, training camp, and 82 regular season games it's a grind to get into the playoffs and the Conference Finals. There is a loss when you don't make it to the ultimate goal, and that's the feeling now obviously."
Nurse on how this year's Oilers team was different and his injury:
"First off the group was a resilient group. We started off the year great, go through a stretch where we go from the top team in our division and conference to six points out of the playoffs. Easily our group could have just quit on each other, I've seen it before. I've seen us get into January and February and things aren't going our way and it just piles on. It showed the maturity in our group that we were able to turn it around and now we were sitting in the Conference Finals. You don't get to the final four by accident, we earned it and we got here, but like Mike said there is no participation medals. We're all competitors, when you lose it stings because our ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup and we didn't get it done this year.
"I tore my hip flexor so, I dealt with that for three series."
Nurse on how close this team is to taking the next step:
"We're a hungry group, but with all that said you get to the Conference Finals there is a long road to get back into the playoffs and then the grind begins. There is a grind to get through that 82, and a grind to get through the next series and the next series. It sucks and it stings, we didn't get the job done that we wanted to get done, but we have a hungry group that knows that you can take steps, but you have to follow it up."
Nurse on how difficult it is to play injured in the playoffs:
"Everyone is banged up this time of year. There's no excuse when you get to this point in the season you want to be on your game and play at a certain level. I wanted to be better in this series, it just adds motivation for summer to come back and be a difference-maker next year."
Smith on the minutes Draisaitl and Nurse played while banged up:
"Warriors. But those are your leaders. Those are who other guys look up to, when you're seeing your top players battle through injuries and throw it all on the ice and give everything they have you want to do the same. Like Nursey said, there are a lot of guys you don't know about who are ice bags and advils after games. When it comes down to it, who wins comes down to who wants to put it out there the most. Unfortunately, we're on the outside looking back in but it's not for a lack of trying. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth to talk about this right now, it's always disappointing, but big lessons to learn"

Jay Woodcroft on the flow of the game
"I thought that game felt like a boxing match with two good teams throwing punches. In the end, they found a way to win it and it's a credit to their team. They did a good job."
Woodcroft on the Avalanche's ability to come back
"There are moments in the game where we'd like to do better. In the end, they're a really good team they pushed hard. They came back, but so did we. There was no give up or people not fighting to the bitter end. Our group pushed as hard as we could, and we emptied the tank with everything that we had. As I said it's a credit to Colorado for the game they played but also the series. They played very well."
Woodcroft on the high scoring playoffs and if the Oilers can win that way
"I would say from February 11 on, we played a pretty tight game defensively. The way the playoffs worked, was the way the playoffs worked. We lost three one-goal hockey games in this series, there were a couple of empty-net goals. That's a function of the way the game was being played. Can we do better defensively, we can. We scored five goals tonight and that should be enough to win a gem."
Woodcroft on generating offensive chances tonight
"We adjusted a few things on our forecheck. We talked a lot about being hard and going to hard areas, I thought you saw that tonight. I thought some of our investments from earlier in the series started to pay off and we saw some turnovers. In the end, I feel we scored enough goals to win the game, but we can be a lot tighter defensively."