Edmonton Oilers lose to Avs in last second of overtime

Artturi Lehkonen scored with less than a second left in overtime to the give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place.

“Tough way to lose it,” Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said after the loss.

“We hope to see this team later on because that means we’re making it to the third round,” Stuart Skinner said of a potential playoff date.

The Avs have won six in a row.

Connor McDavid had the Oilers best chance in a scoreless first period but was denied on a wraparound attempt by goaltender Alexander Georgiev.

Jonathan Drouin was awarded a penalty shot 4:13 into the second after being hooked on a breakaway by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Stuart Skinner got his glove on Drouin’s backhand try to keep the game scoreless.

“He was great–he’s been great for a long time now. He gave us a chance.” Leon Draisaitl said about Skinner. “That’s the backbone of our team and we’ve got lots of trust in him and (Pickard).”

Georgiev responded shortly after by shooting out his right pad to deny Nugent-Hopkins in tight.

Sean Walker opened the scoring with 9:21 to go in the second, sneaking a shot from the right wing past Skinner’s blocker.

The Oilers briefly celebrated a goal 2:05 into the third but it was disallowed after video replay showed Zach Hyman kicking the puck into the net. Warren Foegele would get one that counted less than four minutes later, tipping Evan Bouchard’s point shot past Georgiev.

Corey Perry earned his 900th point with a unique assist. Having lost his stick, he kicked the puck to Mattias Janmark. His shot was stopped but Sam Carrick buried the rebound for his first as an Oiler.

“It’s nice to get the first one, especially at home here,” Carrick said. “Obviously it was a great play by (Perry) to kick the pick up there–a heads-up play. There’s a reason he’s been around that long–making plays like that.”

“They had some big shifts in the third period and that’s what we need going forward–all the lines playing well,” Knoblauch said.

The lead lasted less than three minutes as Walker scored again to make it 2-2 with 5:20 left.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a breakaway 57 seconds into overtime but Georgiev snared his backhand deke. With time running out, Nathan MacKinnon fired a pass in front. Lehkonen was able to slice it past Skinner with 0.5 on the clock.

“That’s hockey. It’s 0.5 seconds away from being potentially a different game,” Skinner lamented post-game.

The Oilers, 40-21-4, will host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 5:30 p.m., game at 7 p.m.).

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