GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Avalanche 1 (OT)

DENVER, CO - Defenceman Evan Bouchard came up clutch in overtime, scoring his seventh goal of the season on the power play to keep the Edmonton Oilers hopes of a Pacific Division title alive on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory at Ball Arena over the Colorado Avalanche.
"I think that was a huge game for us," Bouchard said post-game. "Recently, we've been winning in different fashions. That was kind of a playoff game, and to come out on top was huge."
Bouchard's defensive partner Mattias Ekholm provided Edmonton's only other goal over the tightly-contested playoff primer, equalizing 36 seconds after Ben Meyers benefitted for the Avalanche to make it 1-0 off a bad break that came off the stick of centre Nick Bjugstad inside the first five minutes of the first period.
"This is the type of game that we're going to have to [play] more nights than not here coming next week, so great to see the guys respond," Ekholm said. "It may have taken us a period to get into the rhythm of the hard checking, but once we got there, I thought we played a really solid game."
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner wasn't phased by the tough-luck opening goal and finished the night with 28 saves on 29 shots, improving to 13-1-1 in his last 15 starts.
"I think it's a good time for us to kind of get rolling here; a good time for us to definitely feel good about your game and feel confident," Skinner said. "I think everyone in here has kind of been feeling that way and it's important to feel that kind of feeling; it's kind of an unspoken feeling, but it's important to have that going into the first round."
The victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champions was Edmonton's eighth consecutive victory, keeping themselves in contention for first place in the Pacific Division behind the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Tuesday night to remain two points ahead of the Oilers after 81 games played.
Edmonton concludes its regular season on home ice at Rogers Place on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY
Photo Gallery
Highlights
Look Back at the In-Game Blog
POST-GAME VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at COL
POST-RAW | Coach Woodcroft
POST-RAW | Mattias Ekholm
POST-RAW | Evan Bouchard
POST-RAW | Stuart Skinner

FIRST BLOOD

Tough bounce.
Bjugstad made a valiant effort for the Oilers diving across the middle of the defensive zone to try and take a chance away from Avalanche forward Ben Meyers inside the left circle. But instead, the centre swept the puck back towards Edmonton's crease on the second swing, putting it off the skate of Philip Broberg before it slid through the five-hole of Skinner just before the five-minute mark of the first period.
"It was kind of a tough play," Skinner said. "Just a crazy broken play that went off a stick, another stick, off a skate, and then right when it went off a skate, I moved my pad up just that second."
The goal put the Oilers into a losing position for the first time in 363:03 of action, but it was their response that mattered.
"It's a game of inches. It's about what you do after that," Skinner continued. "Eks scored right away and I think that's a huge bounce-back just to be able to get that momentum shift."

EKHOLM ANSWERS

The Avalanche led for just 36 seconds before Ekholm stepped into a slap shot that tied the game and zapped any momentum that Colorado might've been building off that opening goal.
The Swede received a drop pass from Ryan McLeod at the top of the circle and blasted the equalizer over the left pad of Alexandar Georgiev for his ninth goal of the season at 5:28 of the opening frame, with McLeod picked up an assist on the play in his first game back ifrom a 12-game absence with an upper-body injury.
"I've played a couple of times here lately where it can easily go to two or three before you know it and the game's over," Ekholm said. "Nice to get that one back right away and kind of gain momentum for us and maybe steal some momentum from them."

Edmonton has drastically improved on the defensive side since Mar. 1 with Ekholm in the lineup, averaging 2.79 goals against per game with an NHL-best +33 goal differential, but also lead the league with 4.53 goals per game over that span. Whichever way you want to look at it, the man they call 'Eks' in the Oilers locker room is contributing.
"I think it's something that we're just buying into right now, and it's great to see that everyone sees the results," Ekholm said of Edmonton's commitment to defending. "Maybe tonight there was at times, especially in the first, where they got some easy breaks on us. But other than that, I think we're defending well. I think we try to do the right thing defensively before we go on offence, and it's playing dividends."

SAVE OF THE GAME

The chances continued after Ekholm equalized, and Skinner showed some veteran poise despite his rookie status on an odd-man Avalanche rush just 20 seconds after the Oilers tied the game.
The 24-year-old made a mammoth save by getting his chest to a dangerous chance for Mikko Rantanen, who received a feed from Nathan MacKinnon on a 2-on-1 but couldn't get it behind the surefire Calder Trophy candidate. Skinner made all seven saves in the second period and was playing strong through 40 minutes despite falling victim to some bad luck on Colorado's first-period goal.

BOUCH BOMB TO VICTORY

A game as closely-contested as this deserved overtime.
"The fans were really loud tonight especially going into the third period, the last five minutes and OT," Skinner said. "It really felt like a playoff atmosphere and a playoff game all around."
The Oilers and Avalanche would settle the extra point in extra time just like they had in their two previous meetings, where Edmonton has lost twice to Colorado this season by 3-2 and 6-5 scores. With their respective pushes for their division leads in the balance, Bowen Byram had the Avalanche's best chance in overtime before McDavid drew a hooking penalty to give Edmonton's historic power play the chance to end it.

Before the faceoff, the defenceman would receive a suggestion from his captain that would materialize in the game-winning goal.
"Connor actually called it out and said, 'throw a little fake in there and see what opens up,'" Bouchard said.
Bouchard faked his shot up top with the man advantage and fired the game-winner glove side on Georgiev 1:50 into the extra frame, sealing the extra point for Edmonton on their fourth power play of the evening that included a chance on a double-minor to Byram for high-sticking Zach Hyman in the second period.
"Power plays are huge. When you've got the opportunity, especially in overtime, you've got to make the other team pay," Bouchard said. "But after that four-minute power play where we didn't score, I thought ot gave us momentum and we just kept building off that."

PARTING WORDS

Coach Woodcroft on the meaning of this victory so late in the season before playoffs:
"It's Game 81 of the regular season. I thought it was a heck of a game. The fans got their money's worth. I thought it was well played. It wasn't run and gun and taking needless chances. Nobody got impatient with the way the game was being checked."
"In the end, we found the key play at the right moment. But I think the more games we play like that heading into the playoffs, the better it is for us because we call these dress rehearsals. We've got one left and we're pushing to finish as high as we possibly can. We came into this building against the Stanley Cup champs and this is how we expected to play, and we went out and executed. We'll enjoy it for a little bit and get on the plane, travel well and rest up to get ready for San Jose in the last game of the year."

Ekholm on what about Stuart Skinner impresses him:
"Just how calm he is I think. He's obviously a great goaltender, but he keeps calm under any situation. Obviously, big body and blocks a lot of space so to speak, so we have two really good goaltenders. They've both shown it as of late, so it's great.
Ekholm on the importance of claiming first in the Pacific Division:
"It obviously matters a little bit, but it's not a huge deal. I think home ice in the first round is the biggest key, and we don't know what will happen to Vegas. If they now end up winning the division, what happens to them in the first round, right? So we're just trying to focus on playing as good as we can heading into the postseason. I know if you can come in with a good feeling and then play good hockey, usually you get off to a good start, so that's the focus right now."