Avalanche win in shootout

Colorado beat Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout on Monday night, with Nathan MacKinnon scoring the winner after a 31-save game from Scott Wedgewood. (nhl.com) The game was tied 1-1 after regulation at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Sam Malinski scored Colorado’s only goal in regulation at 9:05 of the second period, and Connor McDavid answered at 15:49 with his 48th goal of the season. (nhl.com) The shootout ended it cleanly: Valeri Nichushkin, Martin Necas and MacKinnon scored on all three Colorado attempts, while Wedgewood stopped Edmonton after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied the second round. Connor Ingram made 30 saves for the Oilers in regulation and overtime. (nhl.com) Colorado had already clinched the Central Division title, the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy before puck drop. Monday’s win pushed the Avalanche to 53-16-11 and gave them a seventh straight road victory. (nhl.com) Edmonton was chasing playoff position in the Pacific Division, and the lost point mattered. The Oilers finished the night at 40-30-11, two points behind Vegas for first in the division and one point ahead of Anaheim, which still had a game in hand. (nhl.com) The underlying numbers showed how tight the game was. Both teams finished with 31 shots, neither power play scored, and Colorado killed off a 1:24 five-on-three in the third period before surviving overtime. (espn.com) Colorado also played without head coach Jared Bednar, who the team said sustained facial fractures and a corneal abrasion after being struck by a puck in a 3-2 overtime loss to Vegas on Saturday, April 11. Assistant coaches Dave Hakstol and Nolan Pratt ran the bench in Edmonton. (nhl.com) For Edmonton, the result fit a rough recent stretch. The Oilers have lost four of five games, even with McDavid scoring and Ingram turning aside 30 shots in a game that stayed within one bounce until the skills contest. (nhl.com) For Colorado, it looked like a playoff-style road game in mid-April: low scoring, even on shots, decided by goaltending and finishers in the shootout. The Avalanche close the trip at Calgary on Tuesday, while Edmonton hosts Vancouver on Thursday. (apnews.com)