Avalanche blow early three-goal lead against Oilers as defense wilts in 4-3 defeat

Kyle Newman, The Denver Post on Jan 17, 2025

Published in Hockey

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DENVER — Thursday night’s high-powered showdown between the star-laden offenses of the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers, featuring the league’s past two Hart Memorial Trophy winners, lived up to its billing.

Unfortunately for the Avs, the end result was undesirable, as Colorado blew a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-3 loss at Ball Arena.

Nathan MacKinnon contributed to that early advantage with a pair of first-period goals, but the Colorado defense wilted over the final two frames as Edmonton controlled the momentum for the final 40 minutes.

About five minutes into the game, Logan O’Connor — one of the heroes of Tuesday’s win over the Rangers via a stellar individual performance in overtime — put Colorado on the board.

The former DU star scooped up a loose puck that squirted free from a scrum near the rear boards, swerved across the ice in the front of the net and beat Stuart Skinner on the bottom right shelf.

Mackenzie Blackwood, who has been all the Avs could’ve asked for and more since the goalie-needy Colorado traded San Jose for him on Dec. 9, played well for most of the first period. That included a pair of impressive saves on a power play.

About a minute after that Oilers’ power play ended, Colorado added on. Nathan MacKinnon skated right down the middle of the zone and beat Skinner’s too-slow glove and leg pad on the bottom right shelf to make it 2-0 about midway through the opening period.

Then, less than two minutes later, the reigning NHL MVP ripped off an highlight-reel goal to put the Avs up 3-0.

MacKinnon took a pass at center ice and skated past Evan Bouchard while filtering the puck off the defenseman’s foot and through his legs, then beat Skinner through the five-hole to get the Ball Arena crowd roaring.

It seemed that Colorado was well on its way to a blowout win to atone for what Jared Bednar dubbed an “unimpressive” win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday in which the head coach questioned his team’s intensity and effort. Bednar switched up the Avs’ lines coming into Thursday, including putting Mikko Rantanen in his first start at center this season.

Despite those changes and a significant early advantage, the Oilers didn’t go away quietly, starting with a Viktor Arvidsson’s slap shot goal with 41 seconds left in the first. The puck went through Blackwood’s legs and cut into some of Colorado’s momentum in a frame where the home team was outshot 13-6.

Edmonton then owned the second period to tie the game.

First, Blackwood got screened in front of the net, allowing Brett Kulak’s slap shot to sneak in the top left shelf. Then, about nine minutes later, Connor McDavid corralled a rebound on the front left side of the net with his glove, dropped the puck on the ice and easily put back a rebound to make it 3-3. Meanwhile, the Avs’ best chance in the second came when MacKinnon hit the post.

In the third, both teams came out aggressive and had several quality scoring chances through the first 10-plus minutes of play. But it was Edmonton who finally broke through, with McDavid’s crisp pass from behind the net finding a wide-open Bouchard at the top of the right face-off circle. With about seven minutes left in the game, Bouchard atoned for his embarrassment by MacKinnon earlier in the night by burying his slap shot in the top left shelf.

The Avs had their chances in the game’s waning minutes, but Skinner rose up and stifled them each time. Colorado is back in action on Saturday afternoon at Ball Arena against Dallas.