Barrie's two goals help Avalanche edge Oilers

EDMONTON - Defenseman Tyson Barrie scored two goals to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Saturday.
Barrie scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and the game-winner in the third in Colorado's second consecutive victory and fourth in five games. John Mitchell also scored for the Avalanche (31-26-4) and backup goaltender Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for his fourth win of the season. The victory moved Colorado ahead of the Nashville Predators into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

"I thought we had a great start and we just kind of took it from there," Barrie said. "We had a lot of offensive-zone time and limited their chances and when they had chances, [Pickard] was great. It was a good, solid road game for us."
Barrie scored at 1:23 of the second period to give Colorado a 2-1 lead, jumping into a rush and tipping a cross-ice pass from Jarome Iginla. His goal at 3:49 of the third period gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead. He took a shot that went through traffic and past Edmonton goaltender Cam Talbot.
"He is very good offensively," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said of Barrie, who leads Colorado's defensemen with 10 goals and 40 points. "He supports the rush really well, and tonight what I liked about him [was that] he defended well as well and that was great performance by him."

Forwards Taylor Hall and Benoit Pouliot scored and Talbot made 26 saves for the Oilers (22-32-6), who have lost four in a row and fell to last place in the overall standings. Teddy Purcell had a goal disallowed in the third period on a goaltender interference penalty to Hall.
"We had a lot of chances, it's just unfortunate that Teddy's goal got disallowed," Pouliot said. "I think it was kind of a weird call and that [Hall] got pushed a little. We had our chances. We were right there. We just came up a little short. Lately it has been like that for us. If one of those could count then it could turn things around for us. There's not much we can do about it. We just have to play hard and keep going."
Hall opened the scoring 7:14 into the first period when he buried a rebound past Pickard after the goaltender made an excellent pad save on Leon Draisaitl.

Mitchell tied the game at 11:19. He was left unattended at the edge of the crease and tapped a centering pass from Blake Comeau into a wide-open net.
After Barrie's goal early in the second period, the Avalanche had an excellent opportunity to extend their lead when Oilers defensemen Mark Fayne and Darnell Nurse took minor penalties 42 seconds apart. Colorado came close to scoring during the two-man advantage when Barrie hit the crossbar on a one-time shot from the point. Talbot slid across to make a good save on Comeau on a cross-crease pass from Matt Duchene during the 5-on-4 portion of the power play.
"It was a good game, we played well," Iginla said. "Our penalty kill was good. We would have loved to get one on the 5-on-3, but they did a good job killing it off. But we were able to keep them from getting a lot of momentum off that. Those 5-on-3s can be dangerous, if you score, you're expected to, if you don't, it can be a big boost for them. It was good that we were able to have a good third, but it got a little dicey at the end, they were pressuring in the last four minutes."

Purcell put the puck in the net at 8:46 of the third period, but the goal was waived off and a goaltender interference penalty was assessed to Hall, who crashed into Pickard at the top of the crease. The Oilers challenged the call, claiming Hall had been pushed into the goaltender, but the call stood.
"We were allowed a review on the play and I don't know why we were allowed it, if it was a penalty and we touch the puck, it's a dead play and it's no goal," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "But I was allowed a review and so it made sense that they went over and looked at it and if they're going to review it, they would clearly see that Taylor was pushed into the goaltender."
Pouliot scored with 1:41 remaining to cut the lead to 3-2, converting a centering pass from Jordan Eberle with Talbot on the bench for an extra attacker.
"We played really well, we had a lot of jump, we were quick on pucks, we were solid in the battles," Roy said. "I thought we dominated that game, we were very happy with that performance."
The Oilers conclude a six-game homestand Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators. The Avalanche visit the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday in the second half of a back-to-back.