Avalanche 4 - 3 Oilers
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Hejduk leads Avs to shootout win over Oilers

Dec 31, 2010 - 7:08 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Milan Hejduk scored the lone goal of the shootout, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Paul Stastny and T.J. Galiardi both had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game slide. Craig Anderson turned aside 32 shots in the win.

"I thought today was kind of up in the air, I think," Stastny said. "We dominated the first half, they dominated the second half, we had our chances, they had their chances, and in the end we capitalized on one of the shootouts and Andy made some big saves for us."

Ales Hemsky and Andrew Cogliano posted a goal and assist apiece for the Oilers, who lost for the fifth consecutive game. Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves in the loss.

Hejduk went second in the shootout and beat Dubnyk with a wrister. Anderson then stopped Hemsky and Taylor Hall to secure the victory.

Galiardi got Colorado on the board 3:22 into the game with a sharp-angle shot from the left circle.

Nearly nine minutes later, David Jones skated through traffic near the net and backhanded a short pass to the slot. Stastny one-timed it past Dubnyk to make it a 2-0 contest.

Tomas Fleischmann increased Colorado's lead to three with a hard wrister from the slot with 5:11 left in the opening frame.

But Edmonton made up the ground over the final two periods. Hall scored the Oilers' first with a cross-ice one-timer at the 9:30 mark of the second.

Hemsky beat Anderson to finish an Oilers rush only 1:54 into the third, and Cogliano scored at 4:53 to pull Edmonton even.

"We showed a little more poise than we did at the beginning of the year," Cogliano said of the comeback. "Guys are coming together better and we're trusting each other."

The teams engaged in a fast-paced battle over the rest of the third period, when each had chances to net the game-winner. But both defenses and goaltenders held strong to send the game to overtime, when both teams killed off a power play.

Game Notes

The teams combined to go 0-for-6 on the man advantage...Colorado plays at Calgary on Friday...Edmonton ended December with a 5-5-3 record.






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