The Avalanche won its fourth consecutive game in impressive fashion Monday night, getting two goals apiece from Kyle Cumiskey and Matt Duchene and one each from John-Michael Liles and Chris Stewart in a 6-0 rout of the Edmonton Oilers at the Pepsi Center.
The four-game winning streak equals Colorado’s longest of the season, accomplished twice in October.
A sobering note was a head injury suffered by defenseman Ryan Wilson in the first period, when Edmonton’s Jean-Francois Jacques checked him into the end boards. Wilson didn’t return to the game, and Colorado went with five defensemen the rest of the way.
The irony was that a Wilson hit knocked New Jersey star winger Patrik Elias out of action Saturday, and Elias had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher before tests determined he had suffered no
serious injuries. Also, the Oilers didn’t like a Wilson hit on captain Ethan Moreau in a Nov. 18 game at Edmonton, primarily because Wilson caught Moreau near center ice with an elbow to the head. Moreau didn’t return to the ice
after that early hit that night, but he didn’t miss any games.
This season’s Oilers look an
awful lot like last season’s Avalanche. They’re injury-riddled and awful, indeed. They’re 1-14-1 since mid-December, are in last place in the Western Conference, and are hearing suggestions they might as well “coast” and hope to land the top pick in June through the weighted NHL draft lottery.
With veterans Milan Hejduk (knee) and Adam Foote (ankle) on the injured list, the Avalanche suddenly has gone from being one of the youngest teams in the NHL to the youngest, period. Colorado’s active roster now averages 26.0 years old.
