Good hockey game, big point, Avs still in control of playoff destiny despite loss to Edmonton Oilers

A hot Edmonton Oilers team on a seven game winning streak came to town. They would have been pretty well rested after playing in their dominant 6-1 win over the San Jose Sharks last Saturday. With them would be three 100-point players of their own who have enjoyed Edmonton’s power play all year.

In a true test against a playoff-caliber team, Colorado would need to shake off any tired legs after their seven-day road trip — a trip that saw them pick up eight of a possible eight points.

Although they finished the trip back-to-back, Mikko Rantanen scraped and clawed his way to his own milestones first with his 50th goal after Nathan MacKinnon’s 100 points. Rantanen then joined Nathan MacKinnon for 100 points after MacKinnon opened the feat earlier on the road against San Jose.

The Avs were hoping a loaded MacKinnon and Rantanen would help pave the way against Edmonton, and they’ll have a boost from Bowen Byram, who returns after the last two games.

Aleksandar Georgiev earned his 60th start of the year.

The first season

Colorado had more jumps than his last two starts. Early in the frame, Ben Meyers skated the puck around the perimeter of the Edmonton end. He used Sam Girard to help reset their looks, took the puck back and started driving to the net with speed. Oilers Nick Bjugstad checked Meyers and tried to sweep the puck away from him, but instead sent the puck into the net.

Meyers got his fourth goal of the season.

Less than a minute later, Colorado had just cleared the puck out of their own end, but a quick transition in the neutral zone. Mattias Ekholm fired a shot from the top of the left circle and beat Georgiev.

The season developed as expected: two good, competitive teams. It was close back and forth, but Colorado looked comfortable.

Second episode

The Avs earned their first powerplay opportunity of the game, but it wasn’t their best effort. They didn’t create many chances and didn’t get a shot on net.

At 5:16, Bo Byram entered the box with a shot and Colorado had to respond with a kill. They avoided Edmonton and didn’t allow much.

During the first half of this period, the Oilers made some progress in the shot battle and spent a little more time in the Avs end.

With five minutes remaining, Devon Toes went into the box for a high tackle. That would be a double minor, so the Avs would spend most of the final minutes defending against the man advantage. Logan OConnor was smart to block the shot, but stayed on the ice until the end of his shift.

Eventually they killed it, but it was no easy feat. It was a brave attempt. The Oilers blew seven attempts and four found the back of the net.

The game was still very tight, but the Oilers got a decent foothold.

The third season

Early in the final period, Colorado earned another power play opportunity. They couldn’t capitalize on it.

As the period wore on, Edmonton took another step forward and dominated possession for much of the time. In the end, the Oilers doubled up in shots in this frame, 10-5.

With five minutes left, Evander Kane went high for Sam Girardi, and the Avs got another power play. Colorado had four shots on net, though the close performance came close to ending in a rush at the other end. Devon Toews had the defensive play needed to break it up.

Not even a poorly timed ice cream could affect this game. It would decide in overtime. With one point secured, Colorado effectively secured home ice in the first round.

Over time

Lars Eller did not play the opening game in overtime. Leon Draisaitl won the ball and Connor McDavid made the first shot attempt, but Georgiev made the save.

Soon after, Byram had a chance of his own, but missed.

Trying to defend against Edmonton’s next comeback attempt, Byram appeared to be inside the speedy McDavid, but the intensity of the game whistled and Byram broke away.

The Oilers had a clear lead four to three. Georgiev blocked Evan Bouchards first shot, but in the next game Bouchard hit the game winner.

Colorado fell 2-1 in overtime and left with one point.

Observations

Newhook-Eller-Meyers line: In the recent game in Anaheim, Jared Bednar debuted on the third line in a slightly different look: Lars Eller was now joined by Alex Newhook and Ben Meyers, who each found the back of the net in the previous game in Los Angeles.

The line seemed to figure some things out in Anaheim, but their cohesion tonight was noticeable. The only goal scored in this competition comes from that hard work. Although the goal was odd, Meyers drove to the net and controlled possession along the perimeter, and Lars Eller provided a menacing presence in front of the net that pressured and forced Edmonton to panic and foul.

Although outnumbered by the top two lines and shielded in their matchups, the third line had the best Corsi percentage, thanks in part to their ability to puck.

Honestly, the top six and a couple had a tough job shutting down Edmonton’s offensive weapons and they did a great job of keeping this event low key.

I thought the line was really good tonight again, said Bednar. [On Lars Eller] Tonight was the fastest I’ve seen him play since probably Toronto/Detroit. He’s got it – a little extra speed to his game. He is strong on pucks and can win battles. You have two guys who chase pucks a lot with their feet in Meyers and Newhook. They played at a good pace. You want to see them contribute and tonight in one of the biggest games they will. They have found a way to hit here lately. I like what I see on this line right now.

Jared Bednar on the game as a whole: I liked our game. I thought we were engaged right away and played a hard, pretty tight game for the most part. In my opinion, the chances of great danger were small. I didn’t think we created enough to dominate the game, but we did a good job on the control side of it. It was a pretty good hockey game. We get a chance to power play late in the game as well – it was a really nice power play. I liked the couple of looks we got and didn’t hit home. Then we have a chance in overtime. We were just a little hesitant to reload, and you can’t hesitate a guy like McDavid with his speed. He gets a chance, and their power is deadly – ​​you put them four-on-three and these guys have even more room to work with. Good hockey game, big point. Good effort from our team.

After the OT loss, Logan O’Connor isn’t looking too far into the upcoming games just yet.: It’s obviously disappointing. We ended up getting that point, I think Georgiev kept us in the game for a lot of moments there. So I think I get a point, definitely a huge point. Of course, it would have been nice to have two.

Alexandar Georgiev shuts down Edmonton on a four-minute power play: It was huge. Our guys did a great job. Like I said, I clear the park a lot and help me with seams and stuff. That was huge for us.