Werner fairy tale takes a dark turn in blowout loss to Oilers

Such is the nature of professional sports. Two nights ago, a fairy tale. Tonight, a nightmare.

Fresh off a 40-save performance that doesn’t technically count as a shutout but absolutely should, Adam Werner never stood a chance tonight in Edmonton in a 6-2 loss against an Oilers team angry coming off a blowout loss and looking to get their mojo back.

The game got off to a solid enough start when Andre Burakovsky gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. The rest of the night belonged to Edmonton’s totally healthy and intact top line as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for 11 points with McDavid having six after the second period and giving everyone with an internet connection the idea he could give the NHL record of a 10-point night a run for its money.

That ultimately did not happen but after Colorado got the lead, the game slipped completely out of their hands thanks in part to atrocious defense and puck management. Also, special teams.

Definitely special teams.

Edmonton blitzed Colorado in the first period with two power-play goals and two at even strength to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

Anytime it looked like Colorado might come back, like when Vladislav Kamenev hit the post in the second period that would have made it 4-2, the Avs took a penalty and gave up a power-play goal.

Edmonton’s last three goals were all on the power play and that unit went four for six tonight in a game that will decimate Colorado’s PK numbers.

McDavid recorded a hat trick and added three assists and Draisaitl enjoyed a five-assist night as those two continue leading the surprisingly stout Oilers, who lead the Pacific Division and trail only the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference.

On paper, this was two of the three best teams in the west coming into tonight but once the Oilers blew open the scoreboard after the first period, it became obvious Colorado’s offensive horses weren’t going to be enough and the injury issue was very real.

It was encouraging, admirable even, the way Colorado built a three-game winning streak coming into tonight despite the injury-ravaged roster but when things went too far south, the lack of high-end ability to push back reared its limited head tonight.

There isn’t much to say about tonight’s game other than it was simply ‘one of those nights’ and Colorado sure hopes they get a little healthier as they head to Vancouver on Saturday night.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• Both of Colorado’s goals were scored by Andre Burakovsky and he was easily Colorado’s best forward for a lot of the night. He was flying around and looked like he was the guy you’d expect Nathan MacKinnon to be.
• A bit of a disappointing night from MacKinnon. Normally in matchups against other superstars, he shows up with an extra gear trying to prove something. Tonight he was pretty quiet. That’s certainly not what you’re after from him in best-on-best looks.
• Nazem Kadri had, to my eye, one of his better games in a while. He only managed one assist but he actually scored just after time expired in the first period and was involved in dangerous scoring chances throughout, including the Kamenev post. Him getting called for goaltender interference was one of those calls pulled straight from fairy tales because it was downright fictional.
• What was a fact, however, was Ryan Graves having a three-penalty night. Colorado’s forwards have largely done a good job avoiding the box as a unit but the defense just cannot seem to stop taking penalties. The usual suspects are Ian Cole and Nikita Zadorov (who still hasn’t joined the trip but is expected to soon) but on a night they stayed out of the box, Graves gets called for three of them. That has to be frustrating for the coaching staff.
• Edmonton only managed 28 shots on goal but there were an awful lot of score effects involved in that tonight and Colorado’s defense was so terrible with and without the puck that the shot total wasn’t even an improvement from the last two games in which they gave up 40 shots on goal.
• All the injury issues and Colorado is only missing one regular from their defense. No excuse for the group to be struggling like it is right now.
• Of course, defense is a team concept and a five-man job and there’s no doubt they’re missing one of their top defensive forwards in Gabe Landeskog. Even Colin Wilson is a reliable player in his own zone and consistently has good shot suppression effects with him on the ice. Missing those guys and having to roll the dice with inconsistent players like Compher and Jost makes that job just a bit tougher.
• Feel for Adam Werner. Nothing he could really do tonight about any of that.
• Antoine Bibeau is apparently healthy? He played for the Eagles at the start of the year and has been hurt since. His status has been totally unknown but he played the second half of the game for the Avs tonight and it was pretty weird. Philipp Grubauer should be back soon enough, though, so hopefully, the Werner/Bibeau tandem is finished at the NHL level for the year.
• Cale Makar should’ve had at least one point tonight but T.J. Tynan was stuffed on the doorstep. That’s how it goes in the NHL. Would’ve been nice for Tynan to get his second first NHL point (his first got taken away postgame). He played 10:30 tonight, which I’ll mostly attribute to the score but it was more than Kamenev. Something to keep an eye on if it continues and the Avs continue to inch their way back towards good health.