Avs lose “a big one” and two defensemen
It could become the Avalanche’s most costly loss of the season.
In Nathan MacKinnon’s return from an eight-game injury absence Sunday, and facing a team that was shut out Saturday at Arizona for its sixth consecutive loss, the Avs lost two defensemen to injuries before blowing a thirdperiod lead in a 4-2 loss to Edmonton.
“We waded into the game and lacked intensity,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s no excuse for the third (period). We played 14 minutes, we had three shots on goal in a game we’re trying to win, need to win, at home. No excuse for that.”
Edmonton’s generational talent, Connor McDavid, produced a hat trick and Ryan Strome broke a 2-2 tie with 6:42 remaining. The Avs could have gotten within a point of the playoffs with a win.
Edmonton snapped a six-game losing streak and put an end to Colorado’s 10-game winning streak at home. The Avs lost two defensemen to injuries — rookie Anton Lindholm didn’t come out for the third period and Erik Johnson suffered an apparent wrist injury midway through the third period. Bednar did not have postgame updates on those two players, the latter of whom leads the team in ice time. But Colorado likely missed them in the third period, blowing a 2-1 lead and posting only six shots.
“It’s tough, no doubt,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “Going into the third with five defensemen and then E.J. goes down — they just started to put it in their last gear and got going. I thought we had some opportunities though in the third, we just weren’t able to capitalize.”
The Avs (31-22-4) dropped to 24-2-2 when leading after two periods. The Oilers (24-30-4) trailed most of the game because of the excellent work by Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov. But Varlamov softened in the third when Edmonton controlled the action.
Following Strome’s goal, Mac- Kinnon took a pass from linemate Mikko Rantanen and clanged a shot off the post beside goalie Cam Talbot.
“Third period was tough, losing two defensemen,” said MacKinnon, who had four shots in 22:20. “We were in our end the whole time. Good pass from Mikko; I hit a post. Man, it would have been nice to get that one. It’s just unfortunate that we lost a big one here at home.”
McDavid scored twice at even strength, the second at 8:59 of the third period to tie it at 2. The goal — a wrist shot through traffic — came shortly after Varlamov made a brilliant save on Strome’s attempted cross-crease tap-in.
The Avs weren’t playing well but took a 2-1 lead into the third. Rookie Tyson Jost scored 4:04 into the game with a wicked wrist shot from atop the right circle and fellow rookie forward Alex Kerfoot gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 13:07 of the second period.
Kerfoot appeared to try to cross-check the puck off a shot by Lindholm, but it caromed off Kerfoot’s chest into the net. The Oilers tied it 1-1 at 11:57 of the second when McDavid buried a rebound.
“Our urgency isn’t high enough,” Bednar said. “It might have been high enough for November, but it’s not high enough for now. So we’re going to have to find a way to make sure that gets elevated. We have to dial our game up, just like everyone else has this time of year.”
The Avs committed only one penalty but failed to convert on three power-play opportunities.
The Avs and Oilers go at it again Thursday in Edmonton, during Colorado’s three-game trip that begins Tuesday in Vancouver and concludes Saturday at Calgary.