GAME RECAP: Avalanche 4, Oilers 2 (Game 3)

EDMONTON, AB - On the edge of elimination.
Valeri Nichushkin had a pair of goals, while JT Compher notched the game-winning goal in the third period as the Edmonton Oilers dropped Game 3 of the Western Conference Final 4-2 to the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Place on Saturday night.
Edmonton now sits on the brink of elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time this post-season down 3-0 in the series to the Avalanche with Game 4 set for Monday night back here in Ice District.
Connor McDavid and Ryan McLeod scored for the Blue & Orange, while Mike Smith was stellar despite the defeat with 39 saves on 42 shots.

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FIRST BLOOD

First minute, first shot, first eruption.
After Darnell Nurse's pass narrowly avoided drawing a Too Many Men call out of the Avalance after striking Bowen Byram just in front of the Colorado bench, the puck trickled inside the blueline where Zach Hyman dug deep to win a battle against Nazem Kadri and kick it inside to Connor McDavid. The captain had it on his stick and dangled around Artturi Lehkonen, creating space for himself to quickly fire the opening goal five-hole on Pavel Francouz just 38 seconds into Game 3.
McDavid wasted no time in Saturday night's contest to score his 30th point of this post-season for a grand total of 10 goals and 20 assists in 15 games, becoming the fifth-fastest player in NHL playoff history to reach the 30-point mark.

CRITICAL EARLY KILL

You know what they always say -- your goaltender has to be your best penalty-killer and make the critical stops when shorthanded. On an extended five-minute Colorado powerplay soon after McDavid's opening goal, Mike Smith made nine of them.
Evander Kane was handed a five-minute boarding major for sending Nazem Kadri into the corner boards 28 seconds on from Edmonton making it a 1-0 game, and Smith was the principal reason the Oilers were able to hold the line against the Avalanche attack. The 40-year-old stoned Gabriel Landeskog from the left circle and made a strong recovery save on the Colorado captain soon after with a two-pad stack when his stop behind the net rolled off his stick and into the danger area in front of goal.
The Oilers were a perfect 5-for-5 shorthanded on Saturday night, killing off all 13 minutes of power-play time for the Avalanche.

VERY VALERI LUCKY

It took a bit of misfortune for Smith to be beaten in the first period and Nichushkin to benefit from a puck sent towards net from the right sideboards that found its way through to tie the game with 3:48 left in the first period. The puck struck Nurse on its way through and snuck its way under the arm of Smith, who couldn't squeeze the gap shut in time before it found its way over the goal line to tie the game.
On the other side of the intermission, it was Nichushkin again who got lucky when a point shot hit McDavid and fell to his stick before the ensuing shot caught the leg of Evan Bouchard and redirected into the left side of Smith's net, making it s 2-1 game 4:37 into the middle stanza.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Nichushkin was the benefactor of two fortunate bounces on Saturday night, but the victim of another sprawling save from Smith.
The Oilers netminder was back stacking the pads in the second frame, this time to deny Nichushkin when he adjusted on his back to a Colorado rebound and carouselled to get his glove to what would've been the Russian forward's third of the night if it weren't for a terrific desperation save.
Pavel Francouz wasn't without his moment either, making a diving glove stop on McDavid after the Oilers were given an important powerplay in the final half of the third soon after McLeod had the Oilers level on the scoreboard.

PLAY OF THE GAME

A loose puck in the Oilers zone was scooped up by Ryan McLeod, who accelerated through the neutral zone and hit top speed as he entered Colorado's zone. Before the defenders could close down Clouder, the 22-year-old centre was already letting go of a wicked wrist shot that beat the right-hand catching netminder Francouz cleanly for his third of the post-season that tied the game 2-2 with over half a period to play.

TURNING POINT

It's just how it happens to go sometimes, with a great opportunity at one end being countered mere seconds later at the other end.
Edmonton's vital third-period powerplay was expiring, and Evan Bouchard let go of a Bouch Bomb from the point that rattled the crossbar before being cleared to centre ice by Andrew Cogliano. JT Compher was exiting the box for Colorado and pursued Bouchard and the loose puck, rubbing out the Oilers defender near the bench and firing a shot that beat Smith five-hole to elevate the Avalanche back into a lead that would stand the rest of regulation.
Mikko Rantanen added an empty-netter to conclude a cruel blow for the Oilers late in Game 3, falling to a 3-0 series deficit.

PARTING WORDS

McDavid on Game 3 and the uphill battle the Oilers face down 3-0 in the series:
"Obviously not a great situation to be in down three. The series isn't over obviously, and we've got to go one at a time here."
McDavid on the 10-second span where Bouchard hit the post and Compher scored soon after:
"It's a game of inches. Obviously it showed there. If that's an inch on the other side for Bouch, it's in and we're up 3-2 having a different conversation in here. Like I said, not a great situation but not over."

Smith on a tough loss despite how tight the game was and some bounces going the way of Colorado:
"That's hockey. Every play counts and it obviously stings to go down 3-0. But saying that, it's not over until you lose four and you've got to come back in Game 4 and try to win one game and move on from there. But obviously the desperation level ahs to be at an all-time high in order to win at this time of the year, and it comes from everybody in the room. Just a little bit more, and like Connor said, it's a game of inches. There's not a lot of space out there, but you've just got to give it everything you have for one game."
McDavid on the seven minutes of penalties to kill after taking an early lead:
"I thought the kill did a great job. Absolute warriors on the penalty kill getting in the way of some big shots, and obviously [Smith] stood in there and did a great job for us. I thought he actually gave us a lot of momentum. Obviously the tying goal at the end of the first there was a fluky one and that probably takes some of the wind out of the sails, but I thought the kill did great."
Ceci on the flow of the game on Saturday:
"I think we spent a little too much time in the box, but we were right in the game the whole way. We had a chance on the powerplay to go up one, and we ended up giving one just at the end of it. We're right there. It's really frustrating, but we're not going to quit on one another."
Ceci on the general feeling within the team down 3-0 in the series:
"It's not an ideal spot, but we're not quitting on each other. We're just going to take it one game at a time. All we're looking at is the next game. Hopefully, we can pull one out and then get one in their barn too."
Kane on the Oilers not scoring at the same clip they did in the earlier series:
"Tonight, we had a lot of pucks at their net, we just couldn't find those rebounds. You look at all their goals, real lucky bounces at unfortunate times in the game. We need to find a way to find our own bounces and our own luck and be a little bit more determined around the net."

Kane on the momentum coming from the Oilers and Colorado early in the game:
"You can say it's a little bit of both. We had a great start and it was 1-0. They get a bounce and another one in the second. It's the way it goes sometimes. We know we're down 3-0 and have to take care of Game 4 on Monday night and start from there."
Kane on how the Compher goal shows how narrow the margins are:
"When you get this deep in the playoffs, you got four good teams left that compete hard each and every shift. We got a powerplay, hit a post, can't find a rebound and they go down the other and score. The margin of error is slim and we're seeing that first hand."
Kane on the play of Smith tonight:
"He's been great. We have to give him some more goal support. He made a couple of real big saves to keep the game a one-goal game late in the third period there."
Woodcroft on the swings during the game:
"I thought it was a competitive hockey game, our penalty kill was excellent. Some of the goals that went in against us - one goes in off our stick, one goes in off a blocked shot that landed on someone's tape and another where a player comes out of the box after we hit a post. Those are tough ones, but our team competed to the very end. In terms of what we're going to do, we're going to process the game and get back at it tomorrow. Our goal is the same, it's the same as it was today, we have to win one hockey game."

Woodcroft on if the Oilers lost momentum having to go on the penalty kill after their goal
"I actually thought the kill that we did have was a momentum booster for us. Obviously, you don't want to be defending for five minutes, but I think we handled it great. Our penalty kill was fantastic tonight."
Woodcroft on the way Mike Smith battled tonight
"He made a lot of saves for us. He gave us a chance to win the game tonight for sure."
Woodcroft on the lineup changes he made in Game 3
"Brad Malone was a big part of our kill the entire night. Physically he had some good shifts and he made a good contribution to our lineup. You know what you're getting with Kris Russell. He was also good on the penalty kill, he's a fearless shot blocker."
Woodcroft on the message going forward
"We're going to process the game like we talked about. We're going to make a couple of tweaks here and there and we're coming in with the same mindset we've had all year long. We have to win one hockey game. There are things that we can do better, but I think our compete and our try was there tonight. In the end it came down to one play and they made one extra play and found the win."