GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Avalanche 2

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers officially booked their ticket to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a full-team effort on Friday night, dispatching the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 at Rogers Place after Connor McDavid and Evander Kane each recorded a pair of goals to help send the Blue & Orange to the postseason for the fifth straight season.

"I think it was a 60-minute effort from everybody, whether it was on the back check, following plays up on the ice or joining the rush," Mattias Ekholm said. "I thought we had a pretty complete 60 minutes tonight and it was really nice to see after our game in Dallas that we didn't like one bit. So when we play like this, we're tough to handle."

Evander Kane ended a stretch of 21 games without finding the back of the net by scoring in the second and third periods, giving Edmonton a two-goal lead with 1.2 seconds left in the middle stanza before he padded his team's lead to 6-2 with just over eight minutes left in regulation on his 23rd goal of the season.

Mattias Ekholm notched his third goal in four games to go along with an assist while Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Cody Ceci and Ryan McLeod each recorded two helpers in the victory. Stuart Skinner made 21 saves to improve to 34-14-5 on the season and defeat Alexandar Georgiev in the opposite crease, who made 41 saves on 47 shots from the Oilers.

Draisaitl reached the 100-point plateau for the fifth time in his career in the middle frame with a helper on McDavid's 30th tally of the season before he recorded his 500th career assist with the primary assist Mattias Ekholm's double-digit tally later in the period.

"It's always nice to be a good team. That's a really good team," Draisaitl said. "They're going to be in the playoffs and they're going to be good in the playoffs, so it's always nice – especially at home after a poor effort in Dallas."

The Oilers wrap up a weekend back-to-back on the road on Hockey Night in Canada in the Battle of Alberta at Scotiabank Saddledome against the Flames.

FIRST PERIOD

We've become accustomed to watching tightly contested games between the Oilers and Avalanche over the last few seasons, with six of their last seven meetings requiring extra time to determine a winner. The first period on Friday night put us on course for another highly entertaining match between two powerhouses in the Western Conference, but it wouldn't end as close as we've become used to.

The Oilers put themselves into an early lead on a pinpoint deflection delivered by Corey Perry, who out-battled forward Ross Colton behind Colorado's net and out front before putting the perfect tip on Darnell Nurse's point shot to send the puck back across Alexandar Georgiev for the 1-0 lead just 1:52 into regulation.

After registering his 11th goal of the season in the first period, Perry now has 40 career points against the Avalanche and leads all active Oilers in career games (54) and points (39) versus Colorado.

Edmonton was unable to capitalize on two power plays in the opening 10 minutes of play and built a 12-4 advantage in shots before Jonathan Drouin broke through for the Avalanche with a one-timer from the top of the circles that was set up by Art Ross Trophy-hopeful Nathan MacKinnon.

The Avalanche took the lead 4:01 later when Ross Colton came into Edmonton's zone, cut to the slot and elevated his shot over Stuart Skinner to make it 2-1 with four minutes left in the first frame, but the Oilers still had time to answer back before the intermission.

After Draisaitl got the puck to Ekholm at the blueline, the Swede's follow-up shot on goal hit a skate and fell into the path of Connor McDavid, who rounded the Avalanche net and wrapped his 30th goal of the campaign off another skate to sneak inside the right post and make it 2-2 with 3:23 left in the opening stanza.

Draisaitl's secondary helper on the play was his 100th point of the season to reach the century mark for the fifth time in his career. Draisaitl and McDavid became the sixthset of teammates in NHL history to record 100 points in the same season on four separate occasions, joining Gretzky & Kurri, Esposito & Orr, Gretzky & Messier, Bossy & Trottier and Stastny & Goulet as the only duos to ever do it.

SECOND PERIOD

When you go hard to the net, good things will happen and as of late, Mattias Ekholm has done a lot of good for the Blue & Orange – and that's not just on the defensive side of the puck.

Another terrific period from the Molson Cup winner for March began with a hard and clean check on Mikko Rantanen at the Avalanche blueline that drew an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Jack Johnson to send the Oilers to their third power play of the night. But after the penalty had expired, it was Ekholm going hard to the blue paint and getting rewarded with his third goal in four games.

"Quite a trade by Ken, that's what that is," Knoblauch said. "To get him and have the plus minuses that he's had and the impact that he's had on this team – whether it's contributing offensively, the physical play, the defensive – game – if I was an opponent opposing forward playing against him, I wouldn't feel very comfortable."

Ekholm was up in the rush when he took a backhand pass from Leon Draisaitl before losing the puck and following his line to the crease, where it bounced through the five-hole of Georgiev off Artturi Lehkonen's right skate blade for a 3-2 Oilers lead.

Despite the Colorado bench challenging the play for goaltender interference, the call on the ice stood to give Ekholm a new career-high in goals with 10 to match his 2017-18 season totals.

"Leo made an unbelievable pass and I think for the last two seconds of that play, I'm trying to get my stick towards the puck and I just can't do it because I have somebody climbing on my back," Ekholm said. "So I'm trying to move and make a shot, but I can't get a shot off. So in my opinion, I'm getting pushed in there and I'm not going right at [Georgiev]. I'm going on the side, but there was no chance for me to avoid contact at that point."

Draisaitl's second helper of the evening marked his 500th career assist, becoming just the fifth Oiler in franchise history to hit that milestone behind Wayne Gretzky (1,086), Connor McDavid (644), Mark Messier (642) and Jari Kurri (569).

The Oilers would receive another lucky bounce to get Evander Kane off the shneid with his first goal in 21 games as time dwindled down in the second period, 

"It was nice to end the streak tonight," Kane said. "It seemed like that was the only way it was going to go in, so I'll take it."

Hearing the "Shooooooot!" cries from the crowd at Rogers Place, Ryan McLeod let go of a desperation wrist shot from the top of the circle that popped up into the air and was clattered over the line with 1.2 seconds remaining as Kane crashed the crease trying to make it a two-goal game before the break.

THIRD PERIOD

For what's been a close matchup for the past few seasons, there was nothing close about this one after the Oilers added two more goals in the final frame through McDavid and Kane, who both ended the night with multi-goal games.

Bouchard picked up his second helper after clattering the puck into a Colorado defender and having the puck bounce onto the tape of McDavid, who quickly flipped his 31st goal past a hapless Georgiev to make it 5-2 just over four minutes into the final frame.

"We made some good plays before that, but we've got a lot of guys on this team that know how to score in the dirty areas and they're good at it and they find their ways," Draisaitl said. "That was nice to see Kane to get a couple, and Perry obviously was great, so lots of great performances."

When the goals haven't been going in for you – especially the way they hadn't been for Kane – these things usually correct themselves in big ways when they finally shift back in your direction.

Kane hadn't scored in 21 games before scoring twice on Friday night, and the winger made it a comfortable 6-2 lead with eight minutes left by sliding one from a tight angle under Georgiev before the Oilers saw out their victory to clinch their playoff spot.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said the play of Kane, McLeod and Perry on the third line was an important detail and a highlight of the victory with Edmonton's need for scoring depth scoring as they enter the postseason.

"I liked all four lines. I thought they contributed," Knoblauch said. "Our six defencemen played well and obviously, Skins has just always been very solid for us. But getting depth scoring has always been an issue for most of the season. The McLeod line chipped in with three goals, so I think that's probably the highlight for me seeing that line playing well."