Arguably the two most talented teams in a weak Western Conference, the Avalanche and Oilers have nonetheless been thwarted by inconsistency and injury this season.
The hockey they’ve exhibited against each other in 2023 has served as both a reminder of the superior individuals whose ability elevated these teams to a conference final clash last May, and as a demonstration of the flawed, entertaining streakiness that defined that series.
The Avalanche pulled a rabbit out of a hat Sunday for the second time in as many Edmonton matchups this year, winning 6-5 after trailing 3-0, 4-2 and finally 5-3 in the third period. Artturi Lehkonen deflected a J.T. Compher shot through Jack Campbell’s five-hole with 4:12 remaining to tie it, and Mikko Rantanen won it with 21 seconds remaining in overtime.
“Two best teams last year in the West — it’s always going to be a good one,” Rantanen said. “They have a good team again this year. It’s fun to play against them.”
Rantanen fit his 36th goal of the season in the top shelf moments after Nathan MacKinnon was denied a winner by the post.
“I don’t think it was our best effort, by any means,” said Compher, who finished with four points.
“It was an ugly game,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “On our side of it, anyway.”
And a game the Avs (31-19-5) had no business winning. By the time they had fallen behind 3-0, they were 0-for-4 on the power play with no penalties against them.
After cutting it to 3-2 when a Valeri Nichushkin pass redirected off a defender’s skate, what followed was a sloppy stretch of hockey not determined to take advantage of the good luck. It culminated in former Avs defenseman Tyson Barrie scoring from the point late in the second period to double the deficit.
When it was 5-3 in the third, Colorado fought off a flurry of Edmonton chances to keep it that way. Kailer Yamamoto was stopped on a breakaway by Alexandar Georgiev, who made 35 saves despite Colorado’s shaky net-front presence.
Cale Makar was the overtime hero from that last game in Edmonton, where the Avs erased a 2-0 hole. He was unavailable for the rematch with an upper-body injury sustained Saturday in St. Louis. When asked if there was concern that it was head-related — Makar recently missed four games going through concussion protocol — Bednar said, “Not at this time.”
The blue line sorely missed its best player. The entire roster did.
“Some of the stuff we gave up was ugly,” Bednar said. “We had a bunch of guys that looked really tired and mentally tired. We had a rough night moving the puck around. Power play, 5-on-5, puck’s jumping over our sticks. Lost a lot of the battles at the point of the puck.”
Other stars stepped up, for both teams. Nathan MacKinnon scored 26 seconds into the third period after assisting a goal earlier for Compher. Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton, but the Avalanche limited the Oilers to minus-two goals while Connor McDavid was on the ice.
Balance became the more overwhelming word of the game in the third period. Twelve Oilers registered at least one point, and 10 Avs did, including nine after second intermission. Logan O’Connor jammed a puck in with 10 minutes remaining to make it 5-4.
“Good third period,” MacKinnon said. “It’s easy to nitpick every single night. We play so many games that we’re going to have rough periods sometimes. Lately it’s been really good in the third.”
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