That the Edmonton Oilers played one of their most complete games of the season while winning on Tuesday in Denver is a positive step. After all, the Colorado Avalanche are the National Hockey League’s top team, No. 1 in the overall standings with less than 20 games left on the regular-season schedule, and came into the game on a five-game winning streak and having won seven of its last eight games. The Oilers delivered a 4-3 win over the Avalanche courtesy hard work and attention to details, head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “That was one of our better games,” Knoblauch told reporters. “(There was) a lot of simplicity to our game. I thought the guys worked really hard, the back check, the defenceman checking, those fine details we need to do every single night, and (Tuesday night), it was done very well.” The win was the Oilers’ second in a row and fourth in six games, and featured notable work on their special teams: the NHL-best power play was good on two of four chances, while their penalty-kill kept the Avalanche to just one goal on three tries. Edmonton also survived a six-on-five Colorado barrage for 2:10 at the end of the third period. The victory vaulted them into second place in the NHL’s Pacific Division with a record of 32-25-8, three points behind the leading Anaheim Ducks, who have a game in hand. Besides scoring highlights such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’s pair of goals and Connor McDavid’s third-period power-play winner, the most notable moment of the night saw Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon ejected from the game for bowling over Oilers goalie Connor Ingram near the end of the second period. Tristan Jarry took over the Oilers’ net after Ingram left the game on concussion protocol. The Oilers also lost the services of forward Colton Dach and defenceman Ty Emberson on Tuesday night to apparent injuries. Jarry made the most of his chance in goal, stopping 11 of 12 shots and turning aside several good Avalanche scoring chances. “He should feel very good about this,” Knoblauch said. “We’re going to definitely need him right away, once if not twice, going into back-to-back (games).” The Oilers face the Dallas Stars on Thursday and the St. Louis Blues on Friday to end a four-game road trip. Jarry said his teammates “did a great job defending.” “They really kept the middle tight. We were getting pucks out. We were blocking shots,” he told media.
