How would you like to parse up what the Edmonton Oilers faced Thursday night in Denver?
Their third game in four nights in three different cities?
The second game of a back-to-back on the road?
Their seventh game in 13 days, in the seventh town, in the fourth time zone, against a rested Colorado Avalanche roster that can make any team look tired?
Whichever way you want to set up the game the Oilers laid down Thursday night in the Mile High City, the conclusion has to be the same. It was as impressive as it was entertaining, a 4-3 win that was the definitive Game of the Year for Edmonton this season, no matter what metric you want to use.
“We know what we have. We know we can score goals,” said defenceman Evan Bouchard, who blasted home the game-winning goal with 6:55 to play, the Oilers’ first lead of the game. “Especially in a game like that, on a back-to-back, it’s going to be a tough game for us. We stuck with it and it paid off.”
Edmonton fell behind 3-0 before the game was 12 minutes old, and if ever a team could have settled for a 4-1 defeat and moved on to the final game of the trip — Saturday in Vancouver — the Oilers were that team.
But, Viktor Arvidsson scored a lucky one with 42 seconds left in the opening period — “He found some life for us there,” said Bouchard — and Brett Kulak and Connor McDavid got them to the second intermission at 3-3.
It’s crazy that a team in the throes of the toughest fortnight on its schedule this season would have this game in them, against this opponent. But the Oilers outshot the Avs 27-25, killed both minor penalties they took, and won a game that pulls them into a tie atop the Pacific with Vegas.
“We just kept our composure,” said Kulak, calmly. “We liked the way we were playing (in the first period). They were putting pucks in the net, but that’s going to happen. They’re a good team.
“Luckily, we had lots of game left to come back and even it up. At that point, it’s just like, don’t give up any more (goals). And then pucks started going in for us.”
This was that rare marquee game that lived up to its billing, featuring four of the top five scorers in the NHL this season in Nathan MacKinnon (two goals), Mikko Rantanen (one assist), Leon Draisaitl (0-2-2) and McDavid (1-1-2).
The Oilers are the best team in the league over the last two months, and were facing a Colorado goalie in Mackenzie Blackwood, who entered the game with a 9-2-1 record, 1.68 GAA and .938 save percentage in 12 games with the Avs. He had not allowed three in his tenure in Denver, before Edmonton rolled into town.
Meanwhile, Stuart Skinner surrendered goals on three of the first six Colorado shots, while Blackwood was making circus stops at the other end. After 20 minutes it looked like goaltending would be the deciding factor — but who knew that Skinner would shut the door for the final 48 minutes of the game?
“A couple (Colorado) goals at the start, we didn’t help him out very much,” Kulak said. “Then he just settled in. He’s always composed and always gives us a good effort and a chance to win.”
“Good answer,” said Skinner, off camera, sitting nearby.
In the end, it turns out Skinner was a microcosm of the team in front of him.
“They just don’t get rattled,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said of his team. “I think a lot of that has to do with experience — a lot of these guys have been together for a long time, but also the last year’s playoffs. There are stressful times, and there’s a lot of confidence in that group.
“Once you start doubting your system, doubting your yourself, the team, your linemates, then you’re not as effective. We’re down 3-0, playing a back-to-back against a very good hockey team … I just liked how they kept on pushing.”
Pushing all the way to the top of the Pacific.
OIL SPILLS
McDavid became the fifth player in franchise history to register at least nine straight 20-goal campaigns, joining Jari Kurri (10), Mark Messier (10), Wayne Gretzky (nine) and Draisaitl (nine) … Over the last nine seasons, the top two goal-scoring pairs in the NHL are McDavid and Draisaitl (467 goals), followed by MacKinnon and Rantanen (381 goals). This season, those two duos are tops in the NHL in combined points, with 134 points for Colorado’s top guys and 131 for Edmonton’s.
