Avalanche silence Oilers, take Game 2

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The Edmonton Oilers looked great against the Calgary Flames, but have they met their match in Colorado? It’s too early to write them off entirely, but there’s no question that Edmonton has been the lesser team in the Western Conference Final thus far.

After dropping Game 1, in some ways Game 2 was worse for Edmonton. The Oilers’ superstars were effectively shutdown in the 4-0 loss. Edmonton managed just 24 shots on goal, including two for Connor McDavid and three for Leon Draisaitl. Both of them saw their nine-game point streaks come to an end.

At the other end of the ice, goaltender Mike Smith didn’t have a bad game so much as the Oilers’ defense let him down. To be fair to Edmonton, it was mostly one bad stretch, but it was a really bad stretch. Over the course of 2:04 minutes in the second period, Edmonton broke down and allowed three unanswered goals.

Colorado’s final goal, which was scored by Nathan MacKinnon on the power play late in the third period was something of a fluke. Smith lost his glove while making an earlier save, so he was in an awkward situation when MacKinnon took his shot.

Taking things as a whole, this game highlighted the Avalanche’s balance compared to Edmonton. Colorado has a strong defense, even with goaltender Darcy Kuemper (upper body) unavailable, they have a great alternative in Pavel Francouz, and of course, the Avalanche are perfectly capable of matching the Oilers offensively.

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