Connor McDavid recorded his third hat trick of the season to lift the Edmonton Oilers past the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Sunday afternoon in Denver. The Oilers snap a six-game losing streak.
As usual, the Oilers surrendered the first goal of the game. Tyson Jost beat Cam Talbot over his right shoulder 4:04 into the first period. The Oilers have allowed the first goal 38 times in 58 games.
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McDavid ended the Oilers scoreless drought at 99 minutes 16 seconds when he slid in a rebound with 8:03 left in the second period. However, the game was only tied for just over a minute. Alexander Kerfoot had a point shot deflect in off his body to put the Avalanche up 2-1.
McDavid struck again 8:59 into the third, wiring a wrist shot past a screened Semyon Varlamov. The Oilers grabbed their first lead of the afternoon four minutes later when Ryan Strome ended a 21-game goalless drought. He converted a centring pass from Mike Cammalleri for his eighth of the season.
Head coach Todd McLellan said it was good to see Strome get the monkey off his back.
“I thought he could have had three tonight,” McLellan said. “That’s the way it’s been going for a few guys like Cammalleri. There’s a little levity on the bench. When they pulled the goalie for the second time you look back and they said ‘Hey coach there’s a bunch of us here who haven’t scored in 20 games,’ and I told them I couldn’t put eight guys on the ice, it would be too many men. So it’s nice to have that moment to relax a little bit and enjoy the game a little bit more.”
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The Avalanche failed to convert on a power play with 5:55 to go, then Nathan MacKinnon drilled a shot off the post with 3:27 left.
McDavid scored into an empty net with 1:26 left.
“It can be frustrating when we’re not scoring goals but we stuck with it,” McDavid said. “I thought even the first period today we should have had a handful but the goalie was good, and we found a way to break them at the end.”
MacKinnon returned to the Avs lineup after missing the previous eight games with an upper body injury.
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Talbot made 24 saves for his 20th win of the season.
The Oilers, 24-30-4, will host Boston on Tuesday.