Denver – John-Michael Liles and Wojtek Wolski scored second-period goals and the Colorado Avalanche won their third straight, 4-1 over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.
Milan Hejduk and Tyler Arnason also had goals for Colorado. Joe Sakic extended his point streak to five games with two assists, and Brett Clark added two assists.
Peter Budaj stopped 18 shots in recording his third win in as many games. It’s Colorado’s first three-game winning streak of the season. The win moved the Avalanche into a second-place tie with idle Minnesota.
Marc-Antoine Pouliot got his first goal of the season and only his second goal in 17 career games, and Dwayne Roloson stopped 12 of 16 shots for Edmonton, losers in three of four.
Edmonton failed to convert on five power plays. Colorado’s power play was 0-for-4 against the NHL’s top penalty killing unit.
Edmonton hadn’t tested Budaj when Pouliot sent a slow-moving shot that got past Budaj when he didn’t smother the puck at 15:31 of the first period. Hejduk matched it with a wrist shot from the right circle at 17:37 when Roloson was late moving over to the left side of the crease.
The Oilers appeared to show the effects of playing the night before when they gave up goals to Liles and Wolski in the second period. Liles went end-to-end and got his own rebound and sent a shot past Roloson at 2:42.
Wolski picked up a loose puck deep in the neutral zone and beat Roloson from the slot after taking a return pass from Andrew Brunette at 10:18 of the period to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead.
Arnason’s 10th goal of the year made it 4-1 at 3:11 of the third period. The teams were skating four a side at the time.
The Oilers failed to put a shot on goal in four power plays in the third period.
Notes: G Jussi Markkanen replaced Roloson at 5:11 of the third period and the Oilers trailing 4-1. … Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth missed his seventh straight game with a fractured right thumb. … Colorado D Patrice Brisbois was a late scratch with the flu. … Colorado D Karlis Skrastins played in his 465th consecutive game.
