Avs Lose Two Defensemen In Loss To Oilers

The Colorado Avalanche found itself without a couple key defensemen in the third period and fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers at Pepsi Center on Sunday.
Erik Johnson left the contest early in the third period with an injury and rookie blueliner Anton Lindholm went to the dressing room with an upper-body injury at the end of the second frame.
Colorado had a 2-1 lead over the Oilers going into the final 20 minutes before Edmonton scored three unanswered markers in the stanza.

"It's tough, no doubt. When they crank it up and they start coming," said Gabriel Landeskog. "Obviously, going into the third with five defensemen and then early E.J. goes down, they just started to put it in their last gear and got going. I thought we had some opportunities though in the third, we just weren't able to capitalize."
Johnson is the Avs' top D-man in time on ice, averaging 25:43 a contest and is second among team rear guards in scoring with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 56 games.
When Johnson left the ice, Colorado was down to four defensemen, Tyson Barrie, Patrik Nemeth, Nikita Zadorov and rookie Samuel Girard. The club also relied heavily on goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who saw 15 shots in the final frame.
"It's tough to play a game with four 'D,' going every second shift," said veteran forward Blake Comeau. "With that being said, we had the game with the lead there in the third period."

Varlamov started the game strong, making 17 saves in the first period and stayed sharp throughout the contest. He stopped 36-of-39 shots in the outing.
"He played outstanding for us tonight, especially in the first period. I thought they could have been up three or four, and he made some outstanding saves to keep us in the game," Comeau said of Varlamov. "Right until the end of the game, he made some big saves and gave us a chance. We just weren't able to pull it out tonight."
The Avalanche started the game slow and had a better second period than its first, but the team was not able to extend its strong play into the third.
"We just waded into the game. It lacked some intensity, and I think our guys got together in the room after the first and came out in the second and had a better period," said head coach Jared Bednar. "Put them under more pressure and played a decent period. The third, there is no excuse for the third. We played 14 minutes and had three shots on goal in a game we need to win at home. No excuse for that."
The Avalanche was outshot 40-26 and could not capitalize on its three power-play opportunities.
"We had 40 minutes where the urgency wasn't high enough. It might have been high enough for November -- it's not high enough for now," said Bednar. "We have to find a way to make sure that that gets elevated. We got to dial our game up just like everybody else is this time of year, and we haven't done that yet recently.
"That has to come from within our room. This time of year, that's what it takes to win. We should be getting more and more urgency out of our group now because we are starting to fall in the standings. If we want to stay in it, we are going to have to dial it up."

The loss ended Colorado's home winning streak at 10 games, which matched the franchise record for consecutive wins at home set by the Quebec Nordiques in 1994-95 and 1983-84. The Avalanche had gone 47 days without a home loss, winning every contest at Pepsi Center from Dec. 29, 2017 to Feb. 14, 2018.
"We needed a response out of our group after the last game in Winnipeg," said Bednar. "The loss hurts. We are going to get a chance to redeem ourselves here again, but the couple injuries in the backend could hurt us more than just the loss tonight."
Colorado's next opportunity to respond be at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday when it starts a three-game road trip.

MacKINNON'S BACK

Nathan MacKinnon returned to the Avs' lineup after missing eight full contests with an upper-body injury that he sustained on Jan. 30 at the Vancouver Canucks.
"Its good to have him back, no doubt," said Landeskog. "He is a good player and a big part of our offense but not a good feeling to lose."
MacKinnon recorded four shots on goal in 22:20 of ice time versus Edmonton. He leads Colorado in scoring with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 50 games this season.

AFTERNOON AFFAIRS

The contest marked the third of seven home afternoon games this season, which equals the most daytime contests in Avalanche history (also 1998-99 and 2002-03).
It was also the Avs' seventh overall matinee of the season. Colorado is now 3-3-1 in day games, including a 2-1-0 record on home ice.
The Avalanche will play in an afternoon contest in each of the next five weekends, continuing on Saturday at the Calgary Flames.