Is There Anything More Beautiful Than Beating the Oilers?

The Four Nations Break is days away, as was another big game in another league, but for the Colorado Avalanche, this was our last game for a good bit. And how fitting that our last game before the break is against the Edmonton Oilers. For one, it's MacKinnon vs McDavid, that's always a main event matchup. And secondly, the next time we'll see MacKinnon, McDavid, and Makar? They'll be teammates representing Canada in Four Nations. Holy guacamole!

The Avs were coming off a big win in Calgary, which saw three-point nights from Nathan MacKinnon (all assists) and Martin Necas (2 G/A). This visit to Edmonton completes a three game swing in Western Canada, and the Avs were looking to end the trip on a winning note. Mackenzie Blackwood was in net for the second straight evening against Stuart Skinner, and it was a quiet start at first. As we all know, "quiet" is not a word you hear often when it comes to these teams, and the noise hit in the middle of the first frame. Zach Hyman was in the box, and the Avs power play cashed in. Guess who? The best #29 in the business, Nathan MacKinnon. His 21st of the season was assisted by Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen.

Speaking of Lehkonen, he ended up in the box, and it was the Oilers' PP's turn to strike. Again, guess who? The second-best #29 in the business, Leon Draisaitl. Tie game, assists from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard. However, 67 seconds later, the best defensemen in the business, Cale Makar, makes it 2-1. 21st of the season, and the assists came from his Four Nations teammates, MacKinnon and Devon Toews. And less than a minute after that, Corey Perry--of all people--ties it up. Adam Henrique and Kasperi Kapanen with the assists. 2-2 and about seven and a half minutes remained in the first period. Avs/Oilers in 2025, ladies and gentlemen!

That wouldn't be all of the scoring in the opening frame, as with just under two minutes left, the best clutch scorer in the business gave us the lead. Artturi Lehkonen, who still lives rent free in Oilers fans' heads, made it 3-2 for the Avs, and that was the score after just 20 minutes. Not only was the first period over, so was Skinner's night. Calvin Pickard entered to start the second period, and he had to be in PK mode already, as Herr Draisaitl was sent to the penalty box just 17 seconds in the frame. Penalty was killed, though. There would be a lot of them in this period. Parker Kelly committed one; but Edmonton's PP was killed. Martin Necas committed one at 5:59, but during the PK, Kelly steals the puck and passes it to Makar, who puts it in. A shorthanded goal to make it 4-2! However, 69 seconds later, Corey Perry scores on the power play to make it 4-3. Corey Perry with two goals in this game. Again, Avs/Oilers in 2025, ladies and gentlemen!

The penalty parade continued with Lehkonen in the box again, but that was killed off. Matching minors also occurred, but during the 4-on-4, Draisaitl... again. That's vierzig (German for "forty") for Draisaitl. Holy moley. So the 4-on-4 goal made it 4-4 and that was the score after 40. The third period was the most contentious; Avs received a power play that quickly turned into almost a minute and a half of 5-on-3 time. I immediately saw this as the moment we'd get the Oilers big time. The chances were there, but no go. Both penalties killed, and we would not see another one committed. The time was winding down, but I knew we would not see overtime. And we wouldn't. At 15:38, Martin Necas gave the Avs the lead, with the only assist coming from MacKinnon. Pickard was pulled late for the extra attacker, and I was pulling for Makar to complete the Hat Trick, but I ended up settling for the Avs holding on and getting this big win.

Oh man! I repeat: we won that trade. In this three game Western Canada trip, the Avs scored nine goals, and three of them were scored by Martin Necas, who has four goals since he was traded to the Avs from Carolina for Mikko Rantanen. MacKinnon finished with seven points in this stretch (G/6 A), and Cale Makar just keeps showing why he's the best defenseman in the league. And in all of this wildness, there was a fact that was lost on me: no points in this game from Connor McDavid. None. Ol' #97 was completely blanked!

So that's that for the Avs before the Four Nations Break. We won't be back in action again until February 22, and we'll be in Nashville on that day, and in St. Louis on the following day (February 23). Our next home game will be played on February 26, and that will kick off a six-game homestand!

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