Oilers deal Avs crippling loss
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Derek Roy scored the deciding goal with 9:18 remaining as the Edmonton Oilers bounced back to post a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
After squandering a 3-0 first-period lead, the Oilers regrouped to hand the Avalanche a damaging blow to their already slim playoff chances when Roy converted the team's lone power play opportunity of the night.
Edmonton beat a shaky Semyon Varlamov three times on just seven shots before the Colorado netminder was yanked after just 9:36 of play. The Avs proceeded to rally behind a outstanding relief effort from Reto Berra, who turned aside 26-of-27 chances.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryan O'Reilly aided Colorado's comeback effort with a goal and two assists, with Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla also notching goals. Tanguay added an assist on O'Reilly's marker which knotted the score at 3-3 early in the third period.
Martin Marincin, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall accounted for Edmonton's early goals, which helped support a 41-save performance out of Ben Scrivens.
A slashing penalty to Colorado's John Mitchell with 10:53 left to play enabled the Oilers to regain their lost momentum.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Benoit Pouliot sent a shot that trickled through the Avalanche netminder's pads but didn't cross the line until Roy alertly swooped in from the left wing to knock in the loose puck.
Scrivens and the Oilers were able to make the lead hold up this time, with Edmonton killing off a pair of late penalties that included a delay of game call with 51 seconds left and Berra already pulled for an extra attacker.
The Oilers quickly gained the upper hand when Marincin ripped a shot over Varlamov's right shoulder 4:33 in for the defenseman's first career NHL goal. Just 1:20 afterward, Varlamov gave up a juicy rebound on a drive from Oscar Klefbom that a charging Eberle knocked home to put Colorado in a 2-0 hole.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Varlamov's night came to an end when he was slow to react on Hall's attempt during an Edmonton rush near the midway mark of the opening stanza.
Berra was able to stabilize the Avalanche back end after his entrance, allowing Colorado to close the gap behind a strong second period.
The Avalanche, who outshot the Oilers by a 14-8 count despite their three-goal deficit after one period, peppered Scrivens with 19 more chances in the second and finally got on the board when Iginla landed a one-timer through traffic on a power play with 5:22 elapsed in the frame.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tanguay brought the Avs within one just after the midway point of regulation by depositing the rebound of O'Reilly's initial attempt with Colorado on a 3- on-2 rush.
The Avalanche kept on coming after the second intermission, with captain Gabriel Landeskog pressuring Oilers defenseman Nikita Nikitin into a bad giveaway in his own end. The turnover led to Tanguay and O'Reilly skating in all alone on a defenseless Scrivens before the latter scored the equalizer 4:54 into the final session.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oilers rookie Andrew Miller picked up his first two NHL points by notching assists on Marincin and Hall's goals ... Pouliot and Anton Lander also recorded a pair of assists for Edmonton ... Varmalov has now let up 16 goals over his last three visits to Edmonton ... Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a six-game point streak come to an end ... The Avalanche had not allowed a power-play goal in any of their previous eight road games, going 16-for-16 on the penalty kill over that stretch ... The teams will face off once again Monday in Denver.