Nathan MacKinnon has two goals & two assists as one of eight different Avalanche players to record multiple points on Saturday night in a 9-1 victory over the Oilers at Rogers Place
EDMONTON, AB – Buried by the Avalanche.
Captain Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, while defenceman Cale Makar and forwards Jack Drury and Parker Kelly each recorded a pair of goals for the Colorado Avalanche, who earned a 9-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday night.
Eight different Avalanche players recorded multiple points against the Oilers, who tied their franchise-worst defeat on home ice after giving up nine goals while registering their only tally from captain Connor McDavid on the power play midway through the second period to extend Edmonton’s
Goaltender Stuart Skinner was pulled in the second period after conceding four goals on 13 shots, giving way to netminder Calvin Pickard, who didn’t fare much better over the final half of the contest by allowing five goals on 21 shots.
The Oilers will look for a better effort on Monday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets to close out their two-game homestand before they depart on a season-long seven-game road trip beginning Wednesday with the first of back-to-back games against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Avalanche score nine goals in a 9-1 win on Saturday
The Avalanche held the edge in power plays and production during the opening frame on Saturday, where the Oilers started strongly in a back-and-forth special-teams battle in the opening 10 minutes before being beaten twice by a pair of lethal releases from defenceman Cale Makar 1:09 apart.
The Oilers loaded up their top line with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Jack Roslovic to go head-to-head against Colorado’s trio of Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas at even strength, but both teams’ stars received plenty of ice time in a penalty-filled opening half of the first period.
Starting on their first shift, Edmonton’s top line applied early pressure on the Avalanche and drew a tripping penalty through McDavid, who along with Draisaitl stayed out on the ice for nearly three minutes trying to capitalize on their early power-play opportunity. But after Evan Bouchard registered their only shot with the man advantage on the five-minute mark, it would take the Oilers 11:46 of play to record their next shot on goal.
Both sides traded penalties before the game’s first sustained stretch of five-on-five came after the midway mark of the opening frame, where the Avalanche struck twice 1:09 apart courtesy of Makar before having another one disallowed for offside.
Makar beat Stuart Skinner cleanly off the far post from the right circle to open the scoring at 6:31 of the first period before he scored again from the identical spot just over a minute later, dispatching another wicked release far side on the Oilers netminder that came quickly off a won faceoff by Nathan MacKinnon.
Both MacKinnon and Toews picked up the helpers on Makar’s fifth and sixth goals of the season to help give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead.
Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog looked like he’d made it a three-goal lead for the visitors with the Oilers killing a penalty to McDavid a few minutes later, but a coach’s challenge for offside reversed the decision after it was dragged over the blueline by Jack Drury following his entry into the offensive zone.
Later in the penalty kill, defenceman Jake Walman was called for boarding against forward Gavin Brindley, leaving the Oilers to kill off 36 seconds of five-on-three to finish off the opening period that saw them finish trailing 2-0 to the Avalanche.
Stuart Skinner made a terrific save in the first 30 seconds of the middle frame to deny Artturi Lehkonen, but two more quick strikes from the Avalanche before five minutes had passed in the period spelled the end of his night between the pipes.
After getting his glove to the Avalanche winger’s open chance in front, Skinner couldn’t corral the rebound from a shot delivered by Sam Malinski before it was wrapped around him by Gavin Brindley 2:38 after the intermission to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.
Just 2:07 later, Skinner had no chance on a well-placed deflection on Brett Burns’ shot-pass attempt along the ice that was redirected over his shoulder by Jack Drury, giving the Avalanche a four-spot before the five-minute mark of the frame.
That marker ultimately ended Skinner’s night after allowing four goals on 13 shots, with the starter being lifted from the game a few minutes later for Calvin Pickard following a TV timeout.
Skinner makes a terrific save on Lehkonen early in the second
Unfortunately, Pickard didn’t fare much better after Parker Kelly took a feed from Brindley below the goal line before rounding him alone in front and putting it away to make it 5-0 just 2:06 after he’d replaced Skinner in the Oilers’ crease.
Nor was he put in better spots by his teammates, either, after McDavid got the Oilers on the board with a power-play marker with his fifth goal of the season with 8:30 left in the middle frame, before another man advantage three minutes later backfired to give the Avalanche their goal right back.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tried to scrape a pass to Evan Bouchard off the offensive-zone draw, but instead, Parker Kelly was able to pounce on it and chip it past the defenceman for a wide-open shorthanded breakaway that he buried on the backhand to make it 6-1 for the visitors before the end of the period.
McDavid gets the Oilers on the board with a power-play marker
After it was Makar scoring twice early – both assisted by MacKinnon – it was time for the Avalanche captain to take a turn.
Just 24 seconds into the final frame, MacKinnon increased the lead to 7-1 on a two-on-one with Martin Necas, where the elite centre took it himself and snapped it short side past his former teammate in Pickard.
Then, just over four minutes later, after exiting the penalty box, MacKinnon showed his famous speed and renowned accuracy by taking on Jake Walman and shooting across the Oilers’ defenceman into the top-left corner to put up an eight-spot on the Oilers with over three-quarters of the final frame to play.
The final tally for the Avalanche arrived with 5:32 remaining in regulation, turning a quick forecheck into a one-timer in the slot for Jack Drury to make it 9-1.
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