Oilers score 4 unanswered, rally to defeat Avalanche for 4th straight win

DENVER -- Connor McDavid scored a goal and had an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied from a three-goal deficit to win 4-3 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Thursday.

Evan Bouchard also scored a goal and had an assist, and Brett Kulak and Viktor Arvidsson each scored a goal for the Oilers (29-13-3), who have won four straight, including a 5-3 comeback win at the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Leon Draisaitl had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 22 saves.

“It was an exciting game. We're down 3-0, but I didn't think that we were that bad. It was just we didn't put our chances in. They did,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “‘Stu’ made some really big saves, so we were able to capitalize later in the game. I think that was the difference.”

It was Edmonton’s first three-goal comeback win since Nov. 26, 2022, a 4-3 win at the New York Rangers.

“We just kept our composure. We liked the way we were playing. Obviously, they were putting pucks in the net,” Kulak said. “They're a good team, and we just bounced back, and we knew, luckily, we had lots of game left to come back and even it up.”

Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals, and Logan O'Connor scored a goal for the Avalanche (27-18-1), who have lost three of their past five games. Mikko Rantanen had an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves.

“I was pretty happy with our first period, especially because we shot well. We capitalized on a couple chances that we earned,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We just have to do a better job in the second. Then we've kind of regrouped and had a pretty good start to the third, which I liked, but you have a couple mistakes -- and they can capitalize on them -- and we end up losing the game. So just not good enough all around the second half of the game.

“We're just not firing on all cylinders, right, and it's been the better part of a week. So got to fix it.”

O’Connor scored to make it 1-0 Colorado after he took the puck out of a scrum in the corner, drove across the top of the crease and put it around the leg of Skinner at 5:17 of the first period.

MacKinnon extended the lead to 2-0 at 10:04 of the first when he skated into the Oilers zone, cut right across the top of the left circle, and fired a wrist shot past Skinner's glove.

MacKinnon made it 3-0 when he went 1-on-1 with Bouchard, put the puck through his skates, and beat Skinner five-hole at 11:48 of the period.

“I just liked our first period. It's too bad we didn't keep that going,” Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin said. “I think the biggest thing right now is [to] get back on the same page and keep it simple.”

Arvidsson cut the lead to 3-1 with a slap shot from the left circle that defected off the stick of Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson and under the leg of Blackwood at 19:18.

“That was huge. When you're down by two, it's a lot better feeling than down by three going into the second,” said Kulak. "That was good to see that one go in, and just a good boost so we can reset and come out for the second.”

Kulak made it 3-2 with a slap shot from the blue line that went short side through a screen in front at 6:17 of the second period.

“I think everyone's just getting opportunities, playing confident, and just having that mentality -- we’re trying to shoot to score,” Kulak said. “You're not always just shooting to get pucks there. You have the mindset you want to put it in the back of the net. So I think just little things like that have made a big difference.”

McDavid tied it 3-3 at 14:49 of the second after he caught the rebound of Draisaitl’s shot with his left hand, dropped it to himself, and sent it over the blocker of Blackwood.

Bouchard gave Edmonton a 4-3 lead with a slap shot from the right circle that went past the blocker at 13:05 of the third period.

“Connor, I saw him behind the net with some time,” said Bouchard. “Figured that I'd try to find open space for him. Just lucky we got the puck on net in a good spot and it went in.”

NOTES: The Oilers recorded a multi-goal comeback win in consecutive days for the first time in franchise history. … McDavid scored his 20th goal of the season and became the fifth player in franchise history with nine consecutive 20-goal seasons (Jari Kurri (10), Mark Messier (10), Wayne Gretzky (9) and Leon Draisaitl (9)). … Draisaitl extended his current point streak to five games (two goals, six assists).