’Twas a snowy night in Edmonton, and the only thing falling faster than the flakes was the Oilers’ defensive structure, as the Colorado Avalanche stormed into Rogers Place and proceeded to dismantle their hosts.
Colorado poured in nine goals in a full-scale rout, a 9–1 shellacking that left the Oilers buried under an avalanche in every sense of the word.
Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) on X
Make that nine.
Four Avalanche players scored twice—Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Jack Drury, and Parker Kelly—highlighting just how lopsided the night became. It was Colorado’s first nine-goal game since April 13, 2022, when they beat the Los Angeles Kings 9–3 at Ball Arena. MacKinnon had a hat trick in that one; this time he settled for two goals and two assists, giving him a four-point performance. Scott Wedgewood stopped 23 shots. Gavin Brindley, who was playing the first time after sustaining a concussion against the Vegas Golden Knights, had a goal and an assist for Colorado.
For MacKinnon, he’s up to 24 points tallied on the season, tied for first in the league with San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini. His 12 goals are also tied for first in the NHL with Montreal’s Cole Caufield.
The Oilers’ lone tally came courtesy of Connor McDavid; beyond that, the night resembled a full-scale oil spill. The goaltending, in particular, was as shaky as ever. Stuart Skinner was yanked midway through the second period after surrendering four goals on 13 shots, and Calvin Pickard didn’t fare any better—if anything, he was worse—allowing five goals on 21 shots in relief.
First Period
The Oilers came out flying in the early stages and 4:23 into the period, Martin Necas tripped McDavid to put Edmonton on the power play. Colorado withstood the assault and killed the penalty. Six minutes into the game, Colorado was held shotless, but MacKinnon got room and broke free down the ice, but was tripped up by Darnell Nurse as he let go of a shot. As a result, Colorado got their chance on the man advantage.
With four seconds left to go in the power play, Brindley was called for tripping Evan Bouchard, who appeared to trip over Brindley’s skate. On the very next play, Jack Roslovic made it 4-on-4 again after he earned an interference call after running over Parker Kelly.
Makar snapped a wrister from the right circle, threading it over Skinner’s right shoulder to stake the Avalanche to a 1–0 lead. The sequence began with MacKinnon commandeering the puck along the left wing. Edmonton tried to smother him with a quick double team, but that was precisely the trap MacKinnon had set. By drawing both defenders out of position, he opened a seam to Devon Toews, who collected the puck in stride and slipped it across to Makar. The defenseman walked into space unhindered and uncorked a razor-sharp wrist shot to finish the play.
Landeskog appeared to have added to the avalanche of offense, wiring home a one-timer off a crisp drop pass from Victor Olofsson in the slot. But for the second time this season, “The Captain” saw a goal erased, this one overturned after a coach’s challenge confirmed that Drury had slipped offside on the entry.
Tensions simmered late in the frame. McDavid drew a high-sticking minor for catching Josh Manson under the visor with 3:15 left—no blood, so only two minutes. Seconds later, Jake Walman compounded Edmonton’s troubles by cross-checking Brindley into the boards, handing Colorado a 5-on-3 advantage.
After a frenetic, chaotic opening twenty minutes, the Avalanche carried a 2–0 lead into the intermission.
Second Period
Brindley scored his second of the season just 2:37 into the period, and a little more than two minutes later, Drury added his own second of the night with a beautiful redirect off a Brent Burns slap shot from the point, stretching the lead to 4–0.
The Oilers responded by pulling Skinner for former Av Pickard, but the switch made no difference. With 10:26 left in the frame, Kelly buried his third of the season after taking a pass from Brindley in the slot and faking Pickard out of his skates before sliding a backhander home to make it 5–0.
Edmonton finally got on the board with 8:30 remaining, scoring just seven seconds into a power play after Josh Manson was called for cross-checking Mattias Ekholm. McDavid snapped a wrister from the left circle past Wedgewood on the short side to cut the deficit to 5–1.
Colorado returned to the power play when Vasiliy Podkolzin was whistled for high-sticking Drury, and although the Avalanche generated plenty of pressure, Pickard held strong—at least for the moment.
Landeskog later took a tripping penalty on Bouchard, but even that worked against Edmonton. Kelly struck again, scoring shorthanded on a breakaway to push the lead to 6–1 with 5:22 left in the period.
Third Period
The rout rolled on just 24 seconds into the final period when the Oilers mishandled the puck at the blue line, allowing MacKinnon to scoop up the loose puck and rip it past Pickard on a 2-on-1 rush, pushing the score to 7–1.
MacKinnon later went to the box for roughing David Tomasek in front of the net. But the moment he stepped out of the penalty box, he jumped into the play, took a pass in stride, and snapped another shot past Pickard for his second of the night at 5:02. Colorado’s lead swelled to 8–1.
The Avalanche earned a four-minute power play when Walman was called for hooking Victor Olofsson and then hit with an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct after shouting something that didn’t sit well with the officials. Colorado couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage, but they scored anyway—Ross Colton found Drury in the slot, and he buried his second of the game.
In summary, this was a beatdown.
Next Game
The Avalanche (9-1-5) have a quick turnaround as they take on the Vancouver Canucks (8-8) on Sunday, with puck drop set for 8 p.m. local time at Rogers Arena.
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