GAME RECAP: Avalanche 6, Oilers 5 (OT)

DENVER, CO -Mikko Rantanen notched the game winner with 21 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 6-5 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena on Sunday afternoon.
For a third consecutive game, regulation was not enough to decide the game for the Oilers who once again fell short in extra time.
"Normally I might dress it up and say it's good to get a point, but I gotta say that was utterly disappointing for us," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said post-game. "The way we handled some things in the third period there, I know we can defend a lot better than we did. Ultimately, it cost us getting the second point, but we'll take the point and move on. To dress it up any other way other than disappointing would be not honest."
The Oilers secondary scoring was the lone positive on the night. Warren Foegele scored twice, while Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Janmark, and Tyson Barrie scored the rest of the Oilers regulation goals.
Nathan MacKinnon lead the charge for Colorado with a pair of goals on the evening, while Valeri Nichushkin, Logan O'Connor and Artturi Lehkonen notched the rest, besides Rantanen's game winner.
The Oilers will now head home for a Tuesday night contest against the Philadelphia Flyers before traveling to Pittsburgh to take on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

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FIRST BLOOD

Talk about making amends.
The Oilers jumped out of the gate against the Avalanche, firing five shots on Alexandar Georgiev in the game's first 2:47. However, the momentum was briefly stunted by a pair of penalties by Warren Foegele - one in the offensive zone on Nathan MacKinnon and a tripping call while exiting the box for the previous infraction.
The Oilers killed off both penalties, and the burly winger cleared the slate before the end of the period. Ryan McLeod diced the Avalanche defence with a slick feed to Mattias Janmark near Georgiev's post. After settling the pass, the Swede dished the assist over to Foegele for a quick one timer and the game's first goal.
The 26-year-old wasn't done on the evening. Foegele picked up where he left off to begin the second frame, burying another Janmark feed by Georgiev just 1:14 into the period. The goals were his eight and ninth of the season, giving the Oilers an early 2-0 advantage against their Western Conference Final foes from last year.

OILERS ON THE KILL

The Avalanche were gifted a 4-0 lead in the power play department to start the game, but the Oilers killers were up to the task. There was no moment more crucial than the Oilers kill of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' hooking penalty 5:22 into the second.
Nugent-Hopkins took the necessary call on a strong back check on Valeri Nichushkin's odd-man rush.
After the longest serving Oiler left the box Nugent-Hopkins joined the Oilers attack and found Leon Draisaitl at his trademark spot in the left circle for the German's 33rd of the season.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

You knew the reigning Stanley Cup Champions just weren't going to go away.
With a little luck and a lot of skill, the Avalanche were able to chip away at the Oilers 3-0 advantage towards the tail end of the second period.
First it was Nathan MacKinnon, who took the Mikko Rantanen feed and wheeled around the faceoff circle for a quick wristshot through traffic which beat Jack Campbell for his 19th goal of the season.
Just over four minutes later, the Avalanche made it a one-goal game when Valeri Nichushkin deflected a pass off the skate of Cody Ceci and in behind Campbell.
The Oilers didn't let the pair of Avalanche goals effect their play. The Blue & Orange were able to push back before the end of the period, out shooting the Avalanche 6-0 for the remainder of the frame and adding a key goal by Tyson Barrie against his former club.
The third period was a different story for the Oilers. Colorado kept up the pressure, outscoring the Oilers 3-1 in the final frame to force overtime and eventually collect the game winner with 21-seconds left in overtime.

TOP PERFORMER

The Oilers secondary scoring has come up big for the team this season and it showed up once again on Sunday afternoon.
Mattias Janmark notched his fourth multi-point game of the season, picking up a primary assists on the game's opening goal and firing home what was an important goal in the third period.
Janmark was able to walk in from the point and blast a slapshot behind Georgiev to give the Oilers a 5-3 lead with 16:02 left in the contest. The 30-year-old has been a versatile player for Head Coach Jay Woodcroft all season, playing up-and-down the lineup while chipping in with five goals and 12 assists in 41 games this season.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the result:
"It's important we look in the mirror here and determine how we're going to try and win hockey games. There were a lot of good things in that game, especially offensively. We got contributions up-and-down the line up, but to dress it up as anything other than disappointing that we didn't defend the right way down the stretch would be false."
Woodcroft on the Oilers having to play a man short again:
"You know what, I think that's excuses, and we're not in the business of making excuses. We're in the business of getting better and that's what we're going to have to do, because six goals against not good enough."
Tyson Barrie on the Oilers letting the Avalanche back into the game:
"Yeah, super disappointing. Obviously talked about it after the second period. We were in a good spot and we had a chance to close out a good team and again didn't finish it off. So, yeah, it's disappointing and we got to try to find a way to get that extra point. Nice to get one, but it probably shouldn't have even got there."
Barrie on what the Oilers need to fix to hold onto leads:
"I don't know, maybe it's just the level of urgency and it sounds cliche, but desperation. You got to get in front of a shot here. You just got to make hard plays because you never know which play is going to make the difference."
Barrie on the Oilers depth scoring:
"Yeah, it's big when you get some depth guys scoring. We're going to need that going down the stretch here and that's good for the confidence, but the most important thing was getting the win and we didn't pull it off. So we'll go back to the drawing board."
Warren Foegele on the Oilers dropping another point in a game they lead:
"It's frustrating, right? We score enough goals and the mentality has to be to defend, and we're definitely capable of it. It's just having the right mindset. Wwe don't need to score more goals. We're up three, so we have to take shorter shifts and stay above guys, and for some reason we're just not doing that."