Oilers win, create three-way tie for first in Pacific

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers forced a three-way tie for first place in the Pacific Division with a 4-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Place on Saturday.
The Oilers, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks each have 91 points, three more than the fourth-place Calgary Flames atop the division.
Benoit Pouliot, Leon Draisaitl, Drake Caggiula and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for Edmonton (41-25-9), and Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves in his first start since Feb. 21.

WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Oilers highlights
"It's nice to be in that mix," Draisaitl said. "We still have a couple of games left. We're up there [in standings], so we might as well go for it."
Sven Andrighetto scored for Colorado (20-51-3), and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves.

Pouliot scored 1:54 into the game to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead on their first shot, tipping defenseman Matthew Benning's shot from the point.
Andrighetto tied it 1-1 at 2:39, skating around Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson and tucking the puck in underneath Brossoit.
Draisaitl put Edmonton up 2-1 at 10:47.
Connor McDavid had an assist on the goal to extend his lead in the NHL scoring race. He has 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists), six more than Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.
"I think we had great legs, they got that first one two minutes in, but we had a great response and then [Andighetto] gets one on a breakaway," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "Even though they had a lead going into the third, I felt we were in control most of the game, especially in the second period, I felt they didn't have much. We got some O-zone time, and I think the problem tonight was they were blocking a lot of shots. We really didn't test out the goalie as much as we wanted to."

Caggiula scored on the power play at 8:46 of the third period to give Edmonton a 3-1 lead, redirecting a pass from Nugent-Hopkins past Pickard.
"I didn't like the rhythm of the game," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "When we went to three lines, some of the guys who are used to running a lot got going, and that's when the game started going in our favor."
Nugent-Hopkins scored on the power play at 15:34 to give Edmonton a 4-1 lead, taking a long rebound off the end boards and shooting past Pickard.
The Oilers continue their four game-homestand against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday before hosting the Sharks on Thursday and the Ducks on Saturday.
"We are obviously watching the standings and aware of where we fit in right now," Caggulia said. "This was a huge two points for our team. Every point is going to be crucial, but with the other teams giving us some help tonight, it was big that we got these two points."

Goal of the game

McDavid dropped the puck to Caggiula along the left-wing boards, and he sent a cross-ice pass to Draisaitl, who one-timed a shot past Pickard to put the Oilers ahead for good.

Save of the game

Brossoit slid across his crease to get his glove on a shot by Blake Comeau off a pass from Carl Soderberg on a 2-on-1 with 6:35 left in the third period.

Unsung performance of the game

Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon won 15 of 23 faceoffs (65.2 percent) and had a plus-1 rating in 19:08.

Highlight of the game

Caggiula redirected a crisp pass into the slot from Nugent-Hopkins at the top of the right faceoff circle to give the Oilers a two-goal lead.

They said it

"You look at what we gave up tonight. We turned two pucks over in the first period and they both ended up in the back of our net. We couldn't recover from the one, and they make a nice play side to side on the one-timer." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on giving up two goals in the first period
"It was a little sloppy to start. I fought with a couple of rebounds, but once I got a couple of saves under my belt, I felt good throughout. It wasn't the busiest of nights for me, but learning to keep focused through that is a big part of it, and I am glad that I did tonight." -- Oilers goaltender Laurent Brossoit

Need to know

The Ducks, who host the New York Rangers on Sunday, have one game in hand on the Sharks and Oilers. San Jose has 40 regulation/overtime wins, the first tiebreaker at the end of the season; Edmonton and Anaheim each has 37. … Draisaitl has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) during a seven-game point streak. … Saturday was the eighth game this season goaltender Cam Talbot did not play for the Oilers.

What's next

Avalanche: At the Calgary Flames on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, ALT, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV)