Oilers get shelled in Colorado after scratching their stars
The Edmonton Oilers capped off their 2023-24 regular season with an ugly 5-1 blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
Though the result looks awful on paper, the Oilers were severely underpowered for this one, as head coach Kris Knoblauch decided to rest seven of the team’s top goalscorers including the team’s entire first line and top defensive pairing.
“We had quite a few regulars out tonight,” Corey Perry told reporters after the game. “We battled hard and it’s just one of those games.
“It’s just about good habits, working hard… it’s not the easiest thing to do but we’re all professionals here.”
This forced a make-shift Oilers team to take on a full-strength Avalanche team, who opted not to rest any of their top guns. The results were predictable as Colorado built up a 4-0 lead in the first 11 minutes and didn’t look back.
EDM COL G82. April 18, 2024. Andrew Cogliano goal. 0-4. 🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/fflbnIoTTI
— Nation Network Media (@NationNMedia) April 19, 2024
Stuart Skinner was hung out to dry in the Oilers crease for the first period and was relieved by Calvin Pickard for the final two periods.
Silver linings
It can be hard to take positives out of such a lopsided score, but there were some encouraging things for the Oilers.
Dylan Holloway got the team’s only goal of the game on a power-play tip to stay hot. The 22-year-old has looked fantastic with five points in his last six since getting called up from the AHL.
EDM COL G82. April 18, 2024. Dylan Holloway goal. 1-4. 🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/CKy5quLVZv
— Nation Network Media (@NationNMedia) April 19, 2024
It will be mighty difficult for the team not to keep Holloway in the lineup once the playoffs roll around. Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele also looked good playing more minutes at the top of the lineup.
Questionable start
The Oilers did not have a great start to this game at all, but a lot of the discussion was about Knoblauch’s decision to start Skinner in this game.
It was fairly obvious that Edmonton would be at a huge disadvantage in this one with so many of their top players out. The idea that you would want Skinner, the team’s playoff goaltender, to take the brunt of what could be a very busy game is a strange one.
“Wasn’t fair for him,” Knoblauch explained. “We talked about it, wasn’t set, but we had some cases on how long we wanted him in there.”
Skinner stopped just 18 of the 23 shots he faced before getting pulled out of the game after the first period.
EDM COL G82. April 18, 2024. Mikko Rantanen goal. 0-2. 🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/FGWwfCrbqB
— Nation Network Media (@NationNMedia) April 19, 2024
This shouldn’t have too much of an impact on Skinner as he will have plenty of time to rest up and regroup for Edmonton’s playoff opener, which is expected to be this coming Monday.
The only possible consequence of this loss is that the Avalanche would have home-ice advantage in a potential third-round series between these two teams.
The Oilers end their season with 104 points and 49-27-6 record. They finished fourth in the league with 293 goals-for and a +61 goal differential. They will now await the results of the last two remaining games on the night to find out who they will face in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It will be either the Vegas Golden Knights or the LA Kings.
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