EDMONTON, Alberta — It was a game the Avalanche badly needed to win, and after the first period it appeared that would happen.
Instead, the Avs played like a team too satisfied with one good period, and ended up losing a potentially damaging 3-2 game Sunday to the last-place Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.
On a night when captain Joe Sakic made his long-awaited return to the Avs’ lineup, the Oilers outscored them 3-0 in the final two periods. Andrew Cogliano’s early third-period goal broke a 2-2 tie, and the Avs’ power play failed to capitalize on a late opportunity. The Avs’ Paul Stastny misfired on a shot into a partially open net, which would have tied the game, on the power play with about 4:50 left.
The Avs are 10th in the Western Conference but remain four points behind the eighth-place Nashville Predators.
The Avs couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start, scoring a goal 27 seconds in. Tyler Arnason jammed in a loose puck for his eighth goal of the season.
At 12:53, it was 2-0, on Ben Guite’s ninth goal. Sakic set him up, the captain’s first point since late November, in his first game back from injury.
