Good & Bad: Avs Top Line Shines in 5-4 Win Over Oilers

It was the Nathan MacKinnon show in the 5-4 Avalanche win over the Edmonton Oilers Friday night. The 29-year-old superstar earned four points, had seven shots on goal and was a plus-2. Cale Makar wasn’t far behind with three points and six SOG.

Both teams opened the game with explosive energy scoring back-and-forth for a total of five goals in the first 20 minutes. Each team was assessed one minor penalty, and both converted with power-play goals.

Three more goals were scored in the middle frame and the Avs got called for four minor penalties. Edmonton was assessed three minors and Makar scored a shorthanded goal on one of the Oilers’ power plays.

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The teams went into the final period tied at four-all and Martin Necas scored the game-winner with 4:22 left in the game.

“Both teams played pretty hard. Some of the offense took over at times in the game, and both teams probably made some mistakes on the defensive side of things that they didn’t like, but pretty back and forth,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Quite a bit of special teams going on in there as well, so the rhythm of the game was a little bit different tonight.”

“We were resilient tonight, it wasn’t an easy game to play at times for us and we weren’t perfect, but you got to try to carve out some results” – Coach Bednar #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/sRH6QjZNeK

— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) February 8, 2025

Colorado didn’t show any signs of fatigue in the second game of its seventh back-to-back this season. The Avs were 4-2-0 coming into Friday night on the second game of a back-to-back and one of the losses was to the Oilers.

Good: Opening Period

Four Avalanche players earned multiple points in the first 20 minutes from one power-play goal and two at even strength. Four goals were scored within three minutes and the Avs had one more shot on goal than the Oilers.

MacKinnon opened up scoring at 10:12 on the power play with assists from Makar and Artturi Lehkonen. Leon Draisaitl responded less than a minute later on a man-advantage to tie it up. One minute and eight seconds later, Makar put the Avs back up by one off a backhand shovel pass from MacKinnon. Thirty-six seconds after that goal, Corey Perry evened it out again. MacKinnon set up Lehkonen who beat Stuart Skinner to end the period up by one.

“We were resilient tonight. It wasn’t an easy game to play at times for us, and we weren’t perfect, but you got to try and carve out some results even when you’re not at your best,” Bednar said.

Good: Mackenzie Blackwood

The 28-year-old netminder has proven over and over his ability to keep his team in games but to do so as spectacularly as he did on the second night in a row is another level. Blackwood made 27 saves against a team with two of the top scorers in the league and several other dangerous players.

He has played seven consecutive games — in which he only lost two and earned two shutouts. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native has done more of the heavy lifting since Scott Wedgewood has been out with a lower-body injury.

“Lot of good efforts, other than Vancouver, and even that game (Thatcher) Demko was amazing … we’ve needed wins,” MacKinnon said. “We’re making it hard on ourselves in the standings. So it’s been challenging, but it’s nice to get a couple wins here.”

Bad: Not So Great Second Period

Discipline was an issue in the second period with Colorado getting four minor penalties. The Oilers only capitalized on one of the man-advantages but the excessive calls threw off the flow of the game. The Avs failed to keep the Oilers off the puck giving up more scoring chances and making Blackwood’s job more difficult.

“Great start. Then I thought the last five minutes of the second wasn’t very good. Four-on-four I got beat there. They have some talented players and kind of fall asleep for a second and they make you pay,” MacKinnon said after the game.