Oilers 2 - 4 Avalanche
Final
  for this game

Avalanche down Oilers

Dec 20, 2013 - 5:50 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Maxime Talbot's shorthanded goal late in the second period proved to be the difference as the Colorado Avalanche took a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists while Ryan O'Reilly and Tyson Barrie chipped in with one goal apiece for the Avalanche, winners in two of their last three games. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves in the win.

Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins both finished with a goal and an assist for the Oilers, losers in five straight, including four in a row on the road.

"We played three good games on this trip. It was frustrating losing them, they were all close. We have to be the ones getting the empty-net goals, not them," said Nugent-Hopkins.

Hall opened the scoring at 14:50 of the first period. Hall skated in virtually alone along the right side and fired a wrister far side past Varlamov.

Barrie scored 1:07 into the middle session, snapping a 1-for-37 slump for Colorado on the power play. A Duchene miss bounced right to Barrie, who sent the puck to Paul Stastny on the goal line. Stastny quickly rifled it back to Barrie, who blasted it into the back of the net.

Nugent-Hopkins put Edmonton ahead once again with his wrister at 12:10, but O'Reilly knotted things up with his wrister from the slot at 15:00.

Talbot added the go-ahead goal 1:28 later. Marc-Andre Cliche picked off a lazy pass in the Colorado zone and raced up ice before backhanding a pass to Talbot, who went backhand on Dubnyk for a 3-2 edge.

"That was a great cutoff and pass by Cliche. I just closed my eyes and put it in," Talbot said.

Duchene added an empty-netter with two seconds remaining to account for the final difference.

Game Notes

Duchene has four goals and 10 points over his last five games ... Hall also had an assist, his 17th, to give him 30 points for the season.






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