After a great win in OT last night in Vancouver, the Avalanche headed to Edmonton to see what the Oilers were up to. For those who have never followed the NHL this season and have just happened upon this website by happenstance, the Oilers are last in the league and are pretty much guaranteed to get the 1st draft pick in Los Angeles this summer. However, the Avalanche still have a chance to move up in the standings, so every game still has meaning.
Photo by Andy Devlin - Getty Images
As far as the first period is concerned, it moved a bit slow, but the excitement of last night’s game may have spoiled the remaining games for me. Now that the Avs are in the playoffs, that anticipation is gone.
The kid who gave the Avs the Playoffs, Matt Duchene, was first on the board tonight at 4:33 into the period. Twenty-four seconds later, the Avs 2nd draft pick, Ryan O’Reilly buried the puck in the net bringing the score to 2-0. Needless to say, the Avs made the right choices last summer in the NHL Draft.
Four minutes after O’Reilly made an impression on Jeff Deslauriers, Marek Svatos popped one past Edmonton’s goaltender, giving the Avs a three point lead on the Oilers. That didn’t last long, however, as Shawn Horcoff was able to get a power play goal behind Peter Budaj when the Colorado backup was committed to the left side of the net. Ruslan Salei was called for tripping at 12:16.
The Oilers weren’t done there and would make it a 3-2 game. Dustin Penner would backhand the puck behind Boods with just under two minutes left in the 1st period.
The 2nd period was back and forth mostly, with only one goal during the whole 20 minutes. The goal came from Edmonton, by Mike Comrie during a power play. This came on a penalty for too many men on the ice. Plus, with Adam Foote, Paul Stastny, Scott Hannan, and TJ Galiardi resting up tonight, it’s hard to PK when your top killers are out.
Photo by Andy Devlin - Getty Images
We did see a few great rushes by the Avs, but Deslauriers denied them every time. This continued on to the 3rd period and the Oilers would make it a 4-3 game in their favor off an Andrew Cogliano snap shot. The Avs would come back and tie it nearly seven minutes later with a nice little backhander by Matt Hendricks.
Cody McLeod shot the puck from the right side and it bounced off of Deslaurier’s leg pad. It landed just behind him where Hendricks would pop it into the net. With no further scoring, the game would go into OT for the third game in a row.
Photo by Andy Devlin - Getty Images
This time the Avs couldn’t pull out the win. After two turnovers in the Avs zone by Kyle Quincey, Ryan Whitney grabbed the puck and blasted the puck past Budaj, ending the game and giving the Oilers the win. The Avs still got a point out of the deal, so that’s a positive twist on this game. The Burgundy Boys didn’t play poorly per se, but you could tell they were tired from last night and oftentimes I caught myself saying that tonight looked like an exhibition game.
There’s a silver lining to this game. The Oilers are not in the playoffs and the Avalanche are.
Rest up, Boys, you’re gonna need it.
What did you guys think? Did the kids do a good job while some key players took the night off? Are you still suffering from Post-Traumatic Budaj Syndrome from the 08-09 season?
Related posts:
- Canucks Blank Avalanche 3-0
- Avs vs. Jackets Game Notes
- Avs Drop Coyotes 4-1
- Avalanche Blank Panthers 3-0
- Avs Top Kings in SO
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