Oilers overwhelmed by Avalanche 6-0

Edmonton's Lubomir Visnovsky and Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly battle for position Monday night in Denver. The Avalanche won the game 6-0. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch the highlights Post-game comments from Ethan Moreau, Tom Gilbert, Marc Pouliot, Shawn Horcoff & Head Coach Pat Quinn

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Tom Gilbert Shawn Horcoff Ethan Moreau Marc Pouliot Pat Quinn

THREE STARS

Matt Duchene, COL - 2 goals + 1 assist Kyle Cumiskey, COL - 2 goals Craig Anderson, COL - 24 saves for fourth shutout of the season

UPDATE

With the loss, the Oilers fall to 16-27-5 and remain in 15th spot in the Western Conference with 37 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton returns home to start a four-game homestand Wednesday, January 20 vs. Vancouver. The game starts at 8:00pm MST and will be broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet West.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

It was a case of the Mondays that the Oilers and their fans would like to forget. Faced with a divisional opponent with offensive firepower and impenetrable defences, the Oilers were unable to keep the Avalanche from tallying two goals per period en-route to a 6-0 trouncing in Denver.

Colorado goalie Craig Anderson stopped 24 shots for his fourth perfect game of the season, while at the opposite end of the net, Jeff Deslauriers made 28 saves on 34 shots.

FIRST PERIOD

The Avalanche tallied two shots for every Oilers attempt in the first five minutes of the game, but it's the rough stuff that would initially get fans on their feet.

As retaliation for a big hit by Jean-Francois Jacques on Ryan Wilson, Chris Durno pounced on the Oilers forward, resulting in roughing minors to both players. Then three minutes later, Zack Stortini and Cody McLeod dropped their gloves behind Deslauriers' net, earning five minutes each.

Midway through the fighting majors, the Avalanche hit. Although Deslauriers turned away two attempts by Matt Duchene, John-Michael Liles caught the second rebound and slipped it under the scrambling goalie to put Colorado up 1-0.

Less than two minutes after the goal, simultaneous holding and hooking minors to Edmonton's Sheldon Souray and Ethan Moreau put the home team on the powerplay and eventually up by two. The Oilers survived 1:25 of three-on-five, but the club couldn't keep the Avalanche at bay and Duchene capitalized on the opportunity with his 14th goal of the season.

A fifth Oilers penalty and third Avalanche infraction filled the rest of the frame and ensured Edmonton would start the second period with 1:28 of powerplay.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers had a couple of good scoring chances on the remainder of the powerplay but couldn't beat Anderson. With a successful penalty kill on their resume, the Avalanche countered with another goal. At 6:25, blueliner Kyle Quincey watched his slapshot richocet off Chris Stewart and into the net for Colorado's third unanswered goal.

The Avalanche cracked 20 shots shortly after the goal, but it would take another 12 minutes for the team to make one count. After spotting the lonely puck near the red line, defenceman Kyle Cumiskey snapped it up and completed a textbook give-and-go with Paul Stastny to make it 4-0.

Colorado held on to its four-goal, nine-shot lead after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton's luck seemed to turn early in the third when Quincey was called for interference, but consecutive infractions to Dustin Penner and Shawn Horcoff quickly put the Oilers back down a man. Only 13 seconds into Horcoff's tripping minor, Cumiskey caught the inside of Deslauriers' post with a slapshot to further increase his club's lead.

The Avalanche of goals continued. With Deslauriers sprawled on the ice trying desperately to stop the bleeding, Duchene received a feed from TJ Galiardi and tapped it across the line for his second of the game and a 6-0 lead.

A fourth Oilers powerplay couldn't help the visitors narrow the gap, and the Oilers limped away with a 6-0 loss.