Rantanen’s goal late in OT lifts Avalanche past Oilers 6-5
By Michael Kelly, The Associated Press on February 19, 2023.
DENVER (AP) – Mikko Rantanen scored with 21 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 on Sunday. Nathan MacKinnon and J.T. Compher each had a goal and an assist, and Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin and Logan O’Connor added goals for Colorado, which won its third straight. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 35 shots. After the Oilers iced the puck to set up a faceoff in their zone, Rantanen made them pay with his 36th goal of the season. Edmonton lost its third straight game after regulation and its fourth in a row overall. The Oilers, who haven’t won in Denver since Dec. 11, 2018, have blown three-goal leads in consecutive games and have dropped six straight to the Avalanche. Warren Foegele scored twice, Mattias Janmark had a goal and an assist and Tyson Barrie and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers. Jack Campbell had 36 saves. The Oilers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period on two goals by Foegele and Draisaitl’s 33rd of the season. Colorado got goals 4:14 apart from MacKinnon and Nichushkin to make it 3-2, but Barrie’s goal late in the period made it 4-2 heading into the third. MacKinnon scored his second of the game and 20th of the season 26 seconds into the third period. Janmark answered at 3:58 to make it 5-3, and O’Connor made it a one-goal game at 9:30. TRADING PLACES Colorado swapped defensemen for Sunday’s game, with Josh Manson in and Cale Makar out. Manson didn’t make the trip to St. Louis on Saturday – a planned day off after he missed 31 games with an lower-body injury – and Makar was out Sunday after taking a hit to the head in the win over the Blues. Makar missed three games in early February after he took a hit in the head from Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter. KANE OUT Edmonton scratched left-winger Evander Kane (upper-body injury) and recalled Devin Shore from Bakersfield of the AHL. Kane’s injury is considered day to day. The Oilers played with 11 forwards. UP NEXT Oilers: Host Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Avalanche: At Winnipeg on Friday night. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 18-17
