DENVER — Even a three-goal outburst couldn’t solve the Avalanche’s problems as of late.
“We’re just not firing on all cylinders. And it’s been the better part of a week,” Head coach Jared Bednar said. “So, gotta fix it. Right now, we have to fire on all cylinders to win. That’s just what it is.”
Colorado scored the first three on Thursday but gave the game away from then on, falling 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena.
Logan O’Connor opened the scoring and Nathan MacKinnon added two goals just past the halfway mark of the first period. The Avs had just six shots at that point but three of them had beaten goalie Stuart Skinner.
Despite that, the Oilers still had signs of life. In the early stages, it was Mackenzie Blackwood who made several excellent saves to help Colorado jump out to the early lead. But after the Oilers scored late in the first, they carried the momentum into the second period and didn’t really let up.
Brett Kulak scored six minutes into the second, Connor McDavid tied it up at 14:49, and the Oilers, who had played the previous night in Minnesota, just needed to win a third period to win the game.
The Avs entered the matchup tied for the league lead in third-period goals. They’ve had a recent pattern of scoring in the third to either come from behind or close out a game that was tied. But eventually that well was going to run dry. The early 3-0 lead should’ve been enough, even against a star-studded Edmonton team.
Instead, the teams exchanged opportunities in the third before McDavid made a nifty saucer pass from behind the net to set up a one-timer blast for Evan Bouchard to put the road team ahead with 6:55 remaining.
Blackwood finished with 23 saves, letting in more than two goals in a game for the first time since joining the Avs. Blackwood had two highlight reel saves on Leon Draisaitl but was also screened on two goals.
Skinner made 22 saves for Edmonton. After the 3-0 lead, the Avalanche only put 19 shots on him in more than 48 minutes of game time. They also had two power plays.
Bad: Coasting through the second period
It’s become a habit recently. The Avalanche start and end well, but coast through the middle part of the game. Against the Rangers, they ultimately handed the momentum to the road team from the midway point of the opening period until pretty much late in the third.
Against the Oilers, the late push wasn’t enough. Even though Colorado had to pull its goalie to try to tie the game and almost got it done again.
“That’s what we want it to look like five on four,” Bednar said. “It’s the same guy on the ice, snapping it around, shooting to score, retrieving pucks. The pace to it is there with two good looks to tie the game six-on-five. We’ve done it twice in the last two weeks.”
It was a far more drastic change this time around. The Avs scored three early goals but even then, they weren’t necessarily the better team. They had that early jump just like they did two nights prior. And it was again led by MacKinnon, who was shot out a cannon early but settled in as the game went on.
MacKinnon had two first-period goals. The first came at 10:04, the second was at 11:48. Those were the only two Avalanche shots on goal in a stretch of seven minutes. The Oilers had a 13-6 advantage at the break and started to dominate in the second period.
They scored twice in the middle frame to set up a 3-3 tie heading into the third. Not a good look for an Avalanche team that led 3-0 and is facing a team that played the previous night. It’s even worse when you consider how the Rangers game played out and the comments Bednar made postgame about his team having too many passengers.
Good: O’Connor earns his ice time
Kudos, again, to O’Connor. He opened the scoring on a hard-working play alongside Joel Kiviranta where the two forwards battled for puck possession behind the net before O’Connor came away with it and easily beat Skinner in the crease for the goal.
O’Connor was also excellent on the penalty kill again, helping the Avs go a perfect 4-for-4 while adding two golden shorthanded opportunities for good measure.
