Final
Horcoff lifts Oilers over Avalanche
Jan 17, 2009 - 7:08 AM By Dave Reed PA SportsTicker Contributing WriterDENVER (Ticker) -- In the opener of a season-high stretch at the Pepsi Center, the Colorado Avalanche coughed up their home-ice advantage.
Horcoff snapped a tie with 6:35 left in the third period to help the Edmonton Oilers post a 3-2 win over the Avalanche on Friday.
Defensemen Steve Staios and Tom Gilbert also scored and Mathieu Garon turned aside 37 shots as the Oilers bounced back from a deflating 5-1 setback to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
"The games are really important against Minnesota and Colorado," Garon said. "You don't want to lose those points because at the end, they're going to be really important. We played really good. It's the kind of game you want to play on the road."
Tyler Arnason and T.J. Hensick tallied for Colorado, which dropped the opener of its eight-game homestand. The extended stretch at Pepsi Center, which spans 21 days, is the second-longest in franchise history behind a nine-game stand wrapped around the Olympic break in 2001-02.
Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves in his fifth start in six contests for Colorado, which lost its third straight.
"That's a tough one," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. "You know all our games the rest of the way are going to be like this, where you have to find a way when the game is on the line to make the play to get the win."
Horcoff took advantage of a mistake by Raycroft, snapping the Avalanche's two-game home winning steak.
"(Raycroft) was already caught out far to begin with when he tried to cover (the puck)," Horcoff said. "So I knew when it came out to (defenseman Denis Grebeshkov), I kind of tried to come out and be available for a pass. He could have shot it if he wanted to, but he made a good play."
Raycroft tried to clear the puck from the low slot at the conclusion of a power-play opportunity for Edmonton, but his pass up the middle hit Kyle Brodziak, and the goaltender stumbled while attempting to return to the crease. Grebeshkov then gathered the puck and sent a cross-slot pass to Horcoff, who scored from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
"I went out to play it, didn't play it properly, and it cost us," Raycroft said. "There were two or three guys there, and I didn't get it up. I just tried to get it off the ice. Then I fanned on it."
Staios gave the Oilers an early lead when his shot from the right point made it through traffic and past Raycroft just 2:10 into the first.
"Let's give them some credit," Granato said. "They came out and dictated the pace and got us on our heels with how they skated and how they came at us."
The Avalanche forged a tie with 3:38 remaining in the session, when defenseman John-Michael Liles' shot from the right circle deflected off Arnason and past Garon. It was the first goal since October 30 for Arnason, who has scored 14 times in 31 career games against Edmonton.
"We need to find ways to score, not just special teams - even strength as well," Liles said. "Putting two in on them is not going to win you the majority of your games."
The Oilers regained their one-goal lead three minutes later as Gilbert cashed in during a man advantage, beating Raycroft from the bottom of the right circle for his first goal in 24 contests.
Edmonton, which entered with a 14-3-1 record when scoring first, improved to 10-1-0 when leading after 20 minutes.
"It was two different games in period one and period two," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "The third evened out pretty much. We ended up getting a good break to win it. We ended up doing what we needed to do at the end to win it."
Colorado knotted the game at 2-2 with 7:32 left in the second, as Hensick picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated around Brodziak and beat Garon with a shot from the right circle.
- NHL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
EDMONTON 2 0 1 3
COLORADO 1 1 0 2 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: EDM - STEVE STAIOS 2 (ERIK COLE, SAM GAGNER) 2:10
COL - TYLER ARNASON 3 (JOHN-MICHAEL LILES, CODY MCLEOD)
16:22
EDM - (PP) TOM GILBERT 3 (SHELDON SOURAY, MARC POULIOT)
19:23
2ND PRD: COL - T.J. HENSICK 3 (CHRIS STEW
Jan 16 11:59 PM - NHL
EDMONTON 3
COLORADO 2
3RD PRD: EDM - SHAWN HORCOFF 11 (TOM GILBERT, KYLE BRODZIAK) 13:25
Oilers 3, Avalanche 2 3rd - 6:35Jan 16 11:47 PM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
EDMONTON 2 0 2
COLORADO 1 1 2 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: EDM - STEVE STAIOS 2 (ERIK COLE, SAM GAGNER) 2:10
COL - TYLER ARNASON 3 (JOHN-MICHAEL LILES, CODY MCLEOD)
16:22
EDM - (PP) TOM GILBERT 3 (SHELDON SOURAY, MARC POULIOT)
19:23
2ND PRD: COL - T.J. HENSICK
Jan 16 11:05 PM - NHL
EDMONTON 2
COLORADO 2
2ND PRD: COL - T.J. HENSICK 3 (CHRIS STEWART, MAREK SVATOS) 12:28
Oilers 2, Avalanche 2 2nd - 7:32Jan 16 10:57 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
EDMONTON 2 2
COLORADO 1 1 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: EDM - SAM GAGNER 5 (RYAN POTULNY, STEVE STAIOS) 2:10
COL - TYLER ARNASON 3 (JOHN-MICHAEL LILES, CODY MCLEOD)
16:22
EDM - (PP) TOM GILBERT 3 (SHELDON SOURAY, MARC POULIOT)
19:23
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST
Jan 16 10:18 PM - NHL
EDMONTON 2
COLORADO 1
1ST PRD: EDM - (PP) TOM GILBERT 3 (SHELDON SOURAY, MARC POULIOT) 19:23
Oilers 2, Avalanche 1 1st - 0:37Jan 16 10:15 PM - NHL
EDMONTON 1
COLORADO 1
1ST PRD: COL - TYLER ARNASON 3 (JOHN-MICHAEL LILES, CODY MCLEOD) 16:22
Oilers 1, Avalanche 1 1st - 3:38Jan 16 10:09 PM - NHL
EDMONTON 1
COLORADO 0
1ST PRD: EDM - SAM GAGNER 5 (RYAN POTULNY, STEVE STAIOS) 2:10
Oilers 1, Avalanche 0 1st - 17:50Jan 16 9:45 PM
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