Oilers host Avalanche in final game before 4 Nations

Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) battle for the puck during overtime NHL action in Edmonton, Saturday, March 16, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson (JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The Colorado Avalanche will go for their fourth win in five games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

Martin Necas tallied two goals and an assist to help the Avalanche to a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Necas has eight points (three goals, five assists) in seven games since being acquired by Colorado with Jack Drury in a three-team trade involving the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks.

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“I think his all-around game is kind of ridiculous,” teammate Sam Malinski said of Necas. “Any time he gets the puck in the neutral zone I never see him dump it. He just enters the zone with speed and control and then obviously he’s a threat.”

The Oilers come in off back-to-back overtime wins -- at the St. Louis Blues (3-2) on Tuesday and at Chicago (4-3) on Wednesday.

The game matches the NHL’s top two point producers, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (83) and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (81), who leads the league with 38 goals.

On Thursday night, Cale Makar recorded a goal and an assist, and MacKinnon tallied three assists for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves.

Makar became the first defenseman to record three 20-goal seasons before his 27th birthday since Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers in 1993-94.

The Avalanche rallied after trailing 1-0 through the first 20 minutes.

“We just talked between periods, and we knew it wasn’t good enough,” Malinksi said. “We obviously brought a little more the next couple of periods, a little more energy and a little more urgency.”

Against Chicago, Edmonton squandered a 3-1 third-period lead. Zach Hyman scored on the power play at 1:36 of overtime for the win.

Draisaitl and Jeff Skinner each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers and Calvin Pickard made 29 saves. Pickard improved to 10-1-0 over his past 11 starts.

“First of all, Picks was unreal for us. He made some really big saves early in the game, too,” Skinner said. “I think he made some real good saves, but we just stuck with it.”

Connor McDavid assisted on the winner, notching his 42nd career overtime point to pass Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane for sole possession of third most in NHL history.

Skinner has three goals and an assist in his last five games, and on Wednesday played in the top six next to Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin on the second line.

“It’s pretty good. I think he’s an easy guy to play with,” Skinner said of Draisaitl. “He wins a lot of battles and makes a lot of great plays. I missed one there in the first. I think he kind of set me up on the wide-open net there, but I thought Podzy played great, too. He’s really disruptive on the forecheck.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist when the Oilers beat the Avalanche 4-1 on Nov. 30; and Evan Bouchard scored the game-winner when the Oilers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Avalanche 4-3 on Jan. 16.

Friday is the final game for both teams before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off (Feb. 12-20).

--Field Level Media