Avs top Oilers, closer to Central lead
The official game recap Edmonton Oilers vs Colorado Avalanche.Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson took on the Edmonton Oilers by himself and scored on an individual rush to put the Avalanche ahead to stay en route to a 4-1 victory Tuesday night at Rexall Place.
Paul Stastny, Tyson Barrie and Jamie McGinn also scored for the Avalanche, and Colorado pulled within two points of the St. Louis Blues for the top spot in the Central Division.
David Perron scored for the Oilers, whose two-game win streak was snapped.
Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 22 saves for Colorado in what may have been the final start of his career. Giguere has hinted he will retire at the end of the season.
Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens stopped 29 shots.
Stastny opened the scoring 4:13 into the first period, getting to a loose puck at the side of the net and whacking away until it slid under Scrivens' pad.
The Oilers tied the game at 16:58 of the first on the power play on Perron's team-leading 28th goal. The Oilers right wing banked a centering pass in off Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden's skate.
Perron entered the game tied for the Oilers' lead in goals with Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle.
The Avalanche regained the lead 12 seconds later when Johnson made up for his interference penalty that had resulted in Perron's power-play goal.
Johnson went on an individual rush, taking on four Oilers at the blue line, getting around Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry and shooting the puck through Scrivens.
Barrie scored a power-play goal at 7:34 of the third period to increase Colorado's lead to 3-1. McGinn then beat Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a rebound in front at 16:19 to put the Avalanche up 4-1.
The Oilers host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday in their second-to-last game of the season. Edmonton will close the season out Saturday at home against the Vancouver Canucks.
Colorado continues its season-ending four-game road trip against the Canucks on Thursday. The Avalanche play the San Jose Sharks on Friday before closing out the regular season Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.
-- by Derek Van Diest for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
09/04/2014 - 06:00
