McDavid gets hat trick, Oilers end Avalanche home win streak at 10

DENVER -- Connor McDavid had a hat trick to help the Edmonton Oilers end a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Sunday.
The loss ended the Avalanche's record-tying 10-game home winning streak; they hadn't lost here since Dec. 27, a 3-1 defeat against the Arizona Coyotes.

"Obviously the team isn't finding a way to have success, but it's a credit to the guys I'm playing with," said McDavid, who has five goals in two games against the Avalanche this season. "It's been pretty fluid. I've been playing with a bunch of guys, and it's a credit to them."
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Avalanche highlights]
Ryan Strome scored and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Oilers (24-30-4), who are 17 points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"It doesn't get any easier as it goes on and our task isn't any easier," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "We know where we are in the standings, we know we have to get better as a team. We're going to enjoy this right now."
Alex Kerfoot and Tyson Jost scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves for the Avalanche (31-23-4), who are three points behind the Wild.

The Avalanche lost defensemen Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm to upper-body injuries. Johnson needed help off the ice at 1:59 of the third period; Lindholm left with 3:40 remaining in the second.
"The couple injuries in the back end could hurt us more than just the loss today," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
Strome gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 13:18 of the third period from the slot off a pass from Michael Cammalleri for his first goal in 22 games. McDavid completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal with 1:26 remaining.
The goal was especially sweet for Strome, who was visibly upset after Varlamov extended his left pad to stop him at 8:02 of the third.
"He's a great goalie," Strome said. "He makes some spectacular saves, he's got those long legs so I couldn't get that one up there enough. Obviously frustrating, but you got to keep with it, and then you get another chance and luckily it went in. Hopefully the piano is off my back a bit now."
The Oilers tied the game 2-2 on McDavid's second goal and 25th of the season at 8:59 of the third. He beat a screened Varlamov from the right face-off circle.
"There's no excuse for the third," Bednar said. "We played 14 minutes and had three shots on goal in a game we're trying to win and need to win at home. No excuse for that.

"We stopped skating, stopped putting them under pressure. The things we did in the second period, the things we need to do to put teams on their heels, we just didn't do it. It seemed we were comfortable with the one-goal lead."
Kerfoot put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 13:07 of the second period with his 15th goal. Kerfoot was at the right side of the net when Lindholm's shot from the right point, which was going wide, hit him in the chest and bounced behind Talbot.

McDavid tied it 1-1 at 11:57 of the second. Varlamov made a save on Matt Benning's shot from the right side and the rebound came to McDavid in the lower portion of the left face-off circle for a shot inside the near post.
Jost gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 4:04 of the first period with his sixth goal. Jost gained possession after Brandon Davidson lost the puck inside Colorado's blue line, skated into the offensive zone to the top of the right face-off circle and beat Talbot to the short side.

Goal of the game

Strome's goal at 13:18 of the third period.

Save of the game

Talbot against Tyson Barrie at 17:29 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

McDavid's second goal at 8:59 of the third period.

They said it

"We get paid to come and get better. Obviously it's frustrating times right now, but we came with a good effort today. I thought everybody played good. We deserved to win, quite frankly." -- Oilers forward Ryan Strome
"We had 40 minutes where the urgency isn't high enough. It might have been high enough in November, it's not high enough for now. We're going to have to make sure that that gets elevated. We have to dial our game up just like everybody else does at this time of the year." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

McDavid has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his past 10 games ... Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon had four shots and lost 10 of 13 faceoffs in 22:20, his first game after missing eight with an upper-body injury. He hit the left post with 3:26 remaining in the third period. ... The loss was the Avalanche's second in regulation when leading after two periods (24-2-2).

What's next

Oilers: Host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, NESN, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: At the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET, SNP, ALT, NHL.TV)