Stuart Skinner turned aside 27 of 28 shots to guide the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Colorado took the early lead at 7:02 of the first period when Nikolai Kovalenko scored his fourth goal of the season on a power-play snap shot, assisted by Artturi Lehkonen and Samuel Girard. Edmonton answered at 11:48 of the opening frame as Kasperi Kapanen beat Alexandar Georgiev with a snap shot, set up by Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Vasily Podkolzin put the Oilers ahead for good at 13:48 of the second period by tipping home a shot with assists from Troy Stecher and Connor Brown. Edmonton extended the advantage 3:56 into the third period on a snap shot from Brett Kulak, assisted by Ty Emberson and Jeff Skinner. Nugent-Hopkins sealed the outcome with an empty-net wrist shot at 18:28 of the final period.
Skinner earned the win by stopping 27 shots, helping the Oilers kill off four of Colorado's five power-play chances. Georgiev took the loss for the Avalanche, making 28 saves on 31 shots faced. Edmonton finished 0-for-2 on the power play but controlled the faceoff circle, winning 37 of 53 draws (69.8%).
The win extended Edmonton's winning streak to three games, improving their regular-season record to 13-9-2. The Avalanche fell to 13-12-0 and dropped their second consecutive game.
