Avs score late to defeat Oilers
Tampa Bay confident it can overcome 2-0 hole vs. Rangers
EDMONTON, Alberta — J.T. Compher came out of the penalty box to give Colorado the lead with 7:18 left and the Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-2 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Called for tripping Leon Draisaitl just three minutes after Ryan McLeod tied it for Edmonton, Compher came out of the penalty box, beat Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard for control along the boards and put the puck between goalie Mike Smith’s legs.
Valeri Nichushkin scored twice for Colorado, Mikko Rantanen had an empty-netter with 30 seconds left, and Pavel Francouz made 27 saves. Francouz stepped in midway through the Colorado’s 8-6 victory in Game 1 when Darcy Kuemper sustained an upper-body injury, then made 24 saves Thursday night in a 4-0 win for his second career playoff shutout.
McLeod tied at 2 at 7:34 of the third, going the length of the ice and beating Francouz with a snap shot from the high slot.
Connor McDavid also scored for Edmonton. Smith made 39 saves.
Game 4 is Monday night in Edmonton, with Colorado a game away from advancing to the Stanley Cup final.
The Avalanche won titles in 1996 and 2007.
McDavid opened the scoring 38 seconds into the game, beating Francouz to the far side with a wrist shot.
Edmonton then killed a five-minute penalty on Evander Kane for boarding Nazim Kadri just 28 seconds after McDavid’s goal, and stopped the Avalanche power play again midway through the period after Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse was called for shooting the puck over the glass.
Nichushkin scored on two fortunate deflections to give Colorado the lead. He tied it with 3:48 left in the first period when his centering pass deflected in off Nurse. Then at 4:37 of the second, Nichushkin controlled a deflection off a shot from the point that hit teammate Nathan MacKinnon and fired a wrist shot through Bouchard’s legs and past the screened Smith.
Only four NHL teams have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a sevengame series. The Los Angeles Kings were the last to accomplish the feat in the first round of the 2014 playoffs against San Jose.
Back East
In Tampa, Fla., there’s no panic in the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions are down 2-0 to the New York Rangers in the bestof-seven Eastern Conference semifinal but remain confident they have what it takes to climb back into the best-of-seven series.
“Nobody’s expecting us to win a conference final 4-0,” forward PierreEdouard Bellemare said Saturday.
Game 3 is Sunday at Amalie Arena.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper cited poor puck management, as well as the lack of a sense of urgency in his team’s play, as factors contributing to Tampa Bay losing consecutive playoff games for the first time in three years.
And while the coach was encouraged by the way his team responded during the second half of a 3-2 loss in Game 2, Cooper stressed the defending champs still have “better in us.”