Edmonton Oilers: Analyzing the Colorado Avalanche Loss

The Edmonton Oilers suffered an overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche last night. There is some positive to take from their performance, mainly their third-period comeback and their goalie.

The one thing the Edmonton Oilers displayed in their overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche is that they have grit. Not only that but also displayed toughness and a never-give-up attitude throughout the game. This team found a way to stay competitive throughout the game but still displayed some of the flaws that have plagued them this year.

One thing to make a note of is that this was the first matchup between these two teams this year. They will face off once again later this month on two separate occasions, but this game might be a precursor of how they’ll matchup in their next encounter.

Bad call by the officials

The major takeaway from this game for the Edmonton Oilers is that bad breaks always hit them. The lousy break from this game was the overturned goal by Drake Caggiula by the officials at the end of the second period. It was eerily similar to the Connor McDavid call against the Calgary Flames last Thursday night. But this time, this overturned call might have cost the Oilers a much-needed win in their do-or-die mission to get to the playoffs.

Not only did the NHL officials get it right the first time but the fact they had to review it again based on a coach’s challenge and then say it was goalie interference is absurd. There have been a lot of bad calls made by the officials and the NHL Head Office in Toronto this year, but this might be one of the worst ones by far.

It’s these type of calls that will hurt the integrity of the game and haunt the National Hockey League moving forward. The Edmonton Oilers and especially Connor McDavid had the right last week to be angry about that overturned call against the Flames and the Avalanche.

Defensive adjustment

Some credit will need to hand to the Edmonton Oilers on how well they played defensively after being down 3-1 at the end of the second period. Having their goal overturned and being scored on in less than a minute to close out the second period would have been crushing for any team, especially the Edmonton Oilers but they did bounce back in the third period.

They only allowed the Avalanche 3 shots on net and scored two goals on 12 shots to force it to overtime. Connor McDavid was clutch in those last 30 seconds to rip his second goal, which forced the Oilers to go into overtime.

Al Montoya performed well even with the loss hanging over the Edmonton Oilers. There was some controversy surrounding him being drummed up by some members of the media calling him “mentally fragile” for not answering questions after practice. That entire sequence was ridiculous since Montoya has been a professional in the NHL since 2004.

Despite that noise that was hovering around him before the game, he was poised and prepared between the pipes. The biggest save that he made during the game was on Mikko Rantanen on the delayed penalty call in the 13:46 mark of the second period. That could have been the turning point of the game if the officials allowed the goal by Drake Caggiula at the end of the second period.

The Edmonton Oilers will need to move on from this loss and get ready for their matchup against one of the best teams in the league, the Tampa Bay Lightning.