March 8, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) after scoring a goal in the second quarter against the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Image Now that the NHL trade deadline has passed, the focus for the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche turns to overtime in the regular season.
Edmonton, which has won three of the last five contests, will try to keep the momentum going when it visits Colorado in Denver on Tuesday night.
The Oilers are battling to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final in the Pacific Division. Edmonton is in third place, three points behind first place Anaheim. They are also feeling the heat from Seattle, which has played in two fewer games than the Oilers and is three points behind.
Edmonton has a strong offense. The 227 goals are second only to Colorado’s 238 goals. But we are focusing on defense. The Oilers have allowed 218 goals and have allowed an average of 4.4 goals in their last nine games. In their six losses during that span, they have allowed 5.5 goals.
Sunday night’s 4-2 win in Vegas was a positive step for Edmonton.
“We’ve been talking about packing the D-zone and playing good defense,” goaltender Connor Ingram said after the win over the Golden Knights. “We’re good enough to get a chance no matter what, so if we take care of the puck at the end of that, we’ll be fine.”
It helps that Connor McDavid, who has 108 points (35 goals, 73 assists), and Leon Draisaitl, who is fourth with 92 points (34 goals, 58 assists), lead the NHL in scoring.
The Avalanche have plenty of firepower, led by Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon, who was the NHL MVP two seasons ago, finished another great season with 104 points (43 goals, 61 assists) behind McDavid in the scoring race.
Martin Necas is having a banner season in Colorado. He’s already surpassed his career highs with 28 goals and 48 assists, and is just seven points behind his season high.
Colorado is coming off a big weekend that helped them secure the top spot in the NHL standings. The Avalanche picked up points against their closest rivals with shootout wins Friday night at Dallas and Sunday against Minnesota.
They lead the Stars by seven points and the Wild by 10 points, and have played fewer games than both teams.
“We’ve been playing really well. We’re playing hard every night and it’s getting results,” coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s not an easy stretch. Five games in seven days coming off the break were bears.”
Sunday’s 3-2 win was Nazem Kadri’s first game back against Colorado, and his offense was needed due to recent injuries. Artturi Lehkonen is out with a lower body injury, while captain Gabriel Landeskog is also expected to be out for several weeks with a groin injury.
Landeskog was injured against Dallas when teammate Cale Makar’s shot hit his protective cup.
“This is a lower body injury, not a comfort injury, and that’s the time frame the doctors have given us,” Bednar said.
–Field level media
