Oilers pull away in last 2 periods to top Avs

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, Brett Kulak, Kasperi Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin also scored and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in Denver on Saturday night.

Stuart Skinner turned away 27 shots for Edmonton, which has won three straight games.

Nikolai Kovalenko had a goal and Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for Colorado, which has dropped three of its past four contests.

The Avalanche made a change to their goaltending situation earlier in the day, acquiring Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators in exchange for goalie Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick.

Wedgewood got the news early Saturday morning and arrived in Denver on time to serve as Georgiev's backup.

Colorado coach Jared Bednar also revealed that forward Miles Wood will miss a "significant amount of time" with an upper-body injury.

Despite the shakeup to the roster, the Avalanche jumped out to an early lead on Saturday night on their first power-play chance. Artturi Lehkonen fed Kovalenko for a one-timer at 7:02 of the first period for the latter's fourth goal of the season.

Edmonton answered soon after when Connor McDavid sent a blind pass across the front of the crease to Kapanen, who knocked the puck into an open net at 11:48. It was his second marker of the season.

The game remained tied until late in the second period, when Podkolzin deflected Troy Stecher's shot from the point at 13:48, his third goal of the campaign.

Colorado had several chances to score early in the third period, but it was the Oilers who struck next. They worked the puck around the Avalanche zone to Kulak at the left point, and his shot through a screen got by Georgiev at 3:56.

It was his fifth goal of the season.

Georgiev came off for an extra skater, and Nugent-Hopkins scored into an empty net at 18:28 for his fourth tally of the season.

--Field Level Media