In order to maintain a seven-point lead over the Dallas Stars, the Colorado Avalanche had to win on Tuesday night. The Edmonton Oilers came to town with their league-leading power play to battle in Denver. Unfortunately, the referees ejected Nathan MacKinnon in the second period, and the Avalanche had to fight back without him. The Avs lost in regulation 4–3.

View from the Mountaintop

Shutting down the net front proved difficult for the Avalanche throughout the game. The first three goals by the Oilers were all in the high-danger zone for the Avs. One was on the power play, with a leading pass. The second was a turnover by Brent Burns right into Leon Draisaitl’s feet. He completed the centering pass to Jack Roslovic despite opposing players. The third goal was when the Avs got caught on the change. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tipped in the pass from Darnell Nurse after a rebound.

Ross Colton opened the game with a goal in the first minute. It was the seventh time the Avalanche had done the feat this season. Colton exited the game during the second period; an upper-body injury prevented his return.

When the power play got a chance in the first period, it looked fantastic. Colorado seems to have taken a more mobile approach with Nazem Kadri on the power play. They were taking the puck to the net more aggressively, leading to higher-quality shots and a goal. Colorado went 1-for-3 on the night. Martin Necas scored his 29th goal, setting a new career record for the forward.

Less than 40 seconds before the second period concluded, Nathan MacKinnon started a charge toward the net’s front. Nurse ran into him and MacKinnon skated into Connor Ingram’s head. The referees penalized MacKinnon a five-minute major for goaltender interference. After a review, they kept the major and added a misconduct. In MacKinnon’s 932 -game career, it was the first game misconduct he had ever gotten. Ingram left the game after the hit and did not return after that. The Avs killed the major penalty, and Valeri Nichushkin scored to tie the game right back up.

Up next

The Avs head to Seattle to start a two-game road trip with the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night at 8 p.m. MT. TNT will broadcast the game.