Nathan MacKinnon scored the decisive goal in a shootout, Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves through regulation and overtime plus one more in the shootout, and the visiting Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Monday night.
Sam Malinksi scored in regulation and Valeri Nichushkin and Martin Necas contributed shootout goals for the Central Division champion Avalanche (53-16-11, 117 points), who dealt Edmonton a tough loss in the Oilers’ quest for the Pacific Division title.
Edmonton (40-30-11, 91 points) fell two points behind Vegas for first place in the division after the Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 on Monday. The Oilers are one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks, who have a game in hand on both Edmonton and Vegas.
Connor McDavid had a regulation goal and the first tally in the shootout for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had a shootout goal and Connor Ingram turned away 30 shots, though he was beaten on all three of Colorado’s shootout attempts.
The teams traded shootout goals until the third round. Wedgewood closed the pads on Jack Roslovic’s attempt, and then MacKinnon beat Ingram high to win it for the Avalanche.
The Edmonton goalie slammed his stick on the crossbar after allowing the goal.
Colorado coach Jared Bednar did not travel for the team’s final road trip of the season, which includes a Tuesday game at Calgary. Bednar sustained facial fractures and a corneal abrasion when he was struck by a puck on the bench during the Avalanche’s overtime loss to Vegas on Saturday.
Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson, who sustained an upper-body injury in the Saturday loss, did not play on Monday.
Malinski gave Colorado a 1-0 lead when he converted a turnover into his eighth goal at 9:05 of the second period. McDavid tied it at 15:49 of the second when his pass to Matt Savoie came right back to him and he beat Wedgewood before the goaltender could recover.
Edmonton had an opportunity to go ahead midway through the third period when Parker Kelly drew a minor penalty for closing his hand on the puck. It gave the Oilers a two-man advantage for 1:24, and they held the puck in the Avalanche zone for all of it but couldn’t cash in.
The Oilers killed off an overtime power play when Kasperi Kapanen was penalized for goalie interference.
