DENVER – Nazem Kadri scored three goals in just over two minutes early in the second period, and Pavel Frankuz made 24 saves in place of the injured Darcy Kuemper for the first playoff playoff of his career after Colorado Avelanch beat the Edmonton Oilers 4- 0 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference final.
Miko Rantanen and Arturi Lekonen, with goals and assists each, Nathan McKinnon and Josh Manson scored for Avalanche during a furious 2:04 run that kept the Oils on their heels – similar to the first 40 minutes of Colorado’s Wild 8 -6 win in match 1.
Mike Smith has stopped 35 shots for Edmonton, who has scored 31 goals in his last six races after being drawn in the opening.
The series of the best of the seven is now moving to the Alberta capital for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday.
After the crazy curtain lift on Tuesday, which saw all four players on the net see the action, the most goals in the conference final in 37 years and a controversial offside review, the teams played a lively and even first period on Thursday before the hosts exploded after intermission.
Lekonen put Avalanche ahead at 3:58 a.m. when he directed Kadri’s home goal for his fifth goal of the season, after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Cody Sessie conspired to endure the puck in the defense zone.
The noisy crowd at Ball Arena was barely able to catch their breath when Manson exploded his second just 15 seconds later from Kadri’s channel after a soft game by Nurse, who missed the last four regular season games with an undisclosed injury that led to another turnaround. .
Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft called a time-out in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but Rantanen continued the attack with his third strike at 6:02 a.m. 2-on-1, ending another Kadri show with the Nurse as the only defender.
The shocked Oilers tried to respond while the period went on, but Francouz was there to close the door, including the chance for a power play by Leon Dreisytle.
Nurse then had the opportunity to make it 3-1 late in the period when the seas parted, only to have the puck pushed from his stick at the crucial moment by the Colorado backup, who played the second half of Game 1 after Kuemper left with injury to the upper body.
Also pressed during Colorado’s four games against the Nashville Predators in the first round after Kumper hit a stick in the eye, Francoz took off Connor McDavid’s mask early in the third.
But the hosts continued to keep their feet on the gas in a dominant performance at both ends of the rink before McKinnon scored his 10th power game with 4:40 left in the regulations, with Smith missing his grip.
Avalanche, who equaled the franchise’s record for goals in a playoff game on Tuesday, are now 57-8-5 in their last 70 home games, although they lost twice to the St. Louis Blues at the Ball Arena in the second round.
Woodcroft defeated its top six strikers on Thursday – probably in hopes of spreading its offensive options – including splitting its two best players for the first time since the first round of the playoffs. McDavid skated with Zack Hyman and Evander Kane, while Dreisytle joined Nugent-Hopkins and Kyler Yamamoto.
Like Game 1, when Avalanche stormed him, creating a 3-2 lead in 20 minutes, Smith came under fire early.
But unlike the first goal, the 40-year-old Edmonton goalkeeper withstood the storm – for a while.
Smith stopped Devon Toews, Lehkonen and MacKinnon at a series of opportunities for Avalanche.
After killing the first power game of the game, the Oilers faced the difficult task of facing a 5-3 lead over Colorado’s speed and skill by 1:32, but Edmonton survived, with Smith making another big stop at MacKinnon.
Jesse Pulyuavri had two chances at the other end before François had to climb back into his crease when Sessie hit off the blue line after clearing a loose puck in the neutral zone.
Edmonton’s other focus in the first 20 minutes was McDavid’s crushing blow to Andrew Collano before the wheels fell in the second, when Avalanche clenched his muscles to send the Oilers north with many questions before Game 3.
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