Edmonton Oilers (12-9-2) @ Colorado Avalanche (13-11-0)

20:00 MT | Ball Arena | Watch: Height, Height+ | Listen to: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

In the 14th and final game of November, the Avalanche will host the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. This is the first of three meetings between the clubs; They will meet again on January 16 in Denver and on February 7 in Edmonton.

Final Result (EDM): EDM 4, UTA 3 (OT)

Final Result (COL): COL 3, BAL 5

A Loss in the Lone Star State

The Avalanche lost 5-3 to the Dallas Stars on Friday at American Airlines Center. Avs’ scorers were Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen. Dallas’ Tyler Seguin opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 5:36 of the opening frame. Nichushkin, who scored his second goal in as many games and third of the season, tied the score with his own power play at 13:56 of the first period. Stars took the lead 2-1 in the first half with Mason Marchment’s goal at 14:28. In the second period, Dallas scored twice, with goals from Jamie Benn at 7:07 and Roope Hintz at 18:42. In the third period, the Claret-Blues responded with Lehkonen scoring his fourth goal of the season from the left diagonal at 1:02. The Avs made it a one-goal game when Rantanen tallied his 15th goal of the season at 8:03 on a stunning one-timer from the right by Cale Makar, who danced his way through Dallas defenders before finding Rantanen. Late in the third quarter, Marchment secured the win for the Stars by scoring an empty-net goal at 17:17, putting Dallas ahead 5-3.

On the (Leader) Board

29 for number 29

Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in assists (29) and is second in points (36).

Deer Loose

Rantanen is fourth in the NHL in goals (15) and fifth in points (34).

Greetings to all Cale

Makar leads NHL defensemen in assists (24) and points (32) and ranks first among blueliners in goals (8). He ranks fifth among NHL skaters in assists and ninth in points.

History

In 131 previous regular season games, the Avalanche had a 72-47-12 record against the Oilers as well as an 11-5 playoff record against them. The Avalanche won two of the three meetings between the teams last season.

Comeback in Utah

The Oilers beat the Utah Hockey Club 4-3 in overtime on Friday at the Delta Center. Utah took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from Alexandar Kerfoot at 6:17 and Logan Cooley at 17:15. The Oilers responded with three second-period goals from Vasily Podkolzin at 9:44, Leon Draisaitl at 14:01 and Connor McDavid at 16:22, the last two coming on the power play. Utah had its own reaction as Lawson Crowse tied the score for Utah at 3:42 of the third period. Edmonton won the game when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored at 1:18 in overtime.

Perfect vs Edmonton

MacKinnon recorded 29 points (8g/21a) in 25 regular season games against the Oilers, plus five points (3g/2a) in four playoff games.

Makar recorded eight points (1g/7a) in nine regular season games against Edmonton and nine points (2g/7a) in four playoff games.

Rantanen recorded 16 points (8g/8a) in 17 regular season games against the Oilers, plus six points (4g/2a) in four playoff games.

A Well-Oiled Machine

Draisaitl leads the Oilers in goals (17) and points (32).

McDavid leads Edmonton in assists (18) and is second in points (30).

Evan Bouchard ranks third on the team in goals (6), assists (11) and points (17).

A Numbers Game

141

MacKinnon posted 141 multi-assist games, tied with Peter Forsberg for third-most in franchise history.

500

Samuel Girard is scheduled to play in his 500th NHL game tonight.

32

Makar’s 32 career power-play goals are the fourth-most by a defenseman in team history and third behind John-Michael Liles.

Quote That Leaves an Imprint

“I felt like we had legs. We were making strange attacks on them that made them feel like they shouldn’t be there. We knew they (Dallas) were going to increase the puck quickly. The legs were mostly there. “We just need to be sharper at times and not allow leaping moves into the back of the net.”

— Cale Makar in Friday’s game