Edmonton Oilers victorious over the Colorado Avalanche
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday 25 November by a score of 3-2. A sellout crowd of 16,839 was on hand in Edmonton to see the Oilers win their first home
game since 10 October.
The Oilers last played on Tuesday 23 November, losing that game to the Phoenix Coyotes by a score of 5-0. After the game Oilers head coach Tom Renney, speaking to NHL.com, called his
team’s effort “an absolute joke.”
The Avalanche also lost their last game, by a score of 4-2, falling to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday
24 November. The loss ended Colorado’s four-game win streak. The defeat was costly in manpower as well, as captain Adam Foote and goaltender Craig Anderson left the game early due to injuries. Neither player took the ice for Thursday’s game.
Edmonton jumped to an early lead in this game, with Gilbert Brule scoring just 1:40 into the first period. Brule was falling to the ice when he fired a shot from the side of the net that
found its way past Colorado goalie Peter Budaj.
The Oilers Andrew Cogliano made the score 2-0 at the 3:51 mark of the first period. Cogliano, after gathering the loose puck from behind the Colorado net, skated into the slot and used
a backhand to beat Budaj for his second goal of the season.
Colorado’s Kevin Shattenkirk would score next, using a wrist shot from in close to beat Edmonton goalie Martin Gerber and bring the score to 2-1.
Matt Duchene of the Avalanche would score the only goal of the second period. The Avalanche were on the power play when Duchene took advantage of Gerber being out of position and easily
put the puck in the net, tying the game at two.
The game would remain knotted at two until the 19:31 mark of the third period when Jordan Eberle put a pass on the stick of a wide-open Taylor Hall. After receiving the pass, Hall quickly
fired a shot past the diving Budaj for the game-winning goal.
Gerber, making his first NHL start since 11 April 2009 stopped 35 shots in the 3-2 Edmonton win. “It’s (the win) huge for the whole team,” Gerber told NHL.com. “I think we played a good
game and really stuck to our game plan. We put a lot of work and effort in it.”
Colorado head coach Joe Sacco, on the other hand, was unhappy with his team’s effort. “We didn’t have a good start to the game,” Sacco said. “We had a few guys that weren’t ready when
the puck dropped and that cost us a couple of goals.”
The win gives the Oilers a record of 6-11-4 on the season. The loss drops the Avalanche to 12-9-1.
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