News » the Edmonton Oilers must tighten up a porous penalty

In the short term Youth Brandon Carlo Jersey , the Edmonton Oilers must tighten up a porous penalty-killing unit. In the long term, they want to remind opponents that Rogers Place is a tough barn in which to play.Edmonton seeks a split of a two-game homestand Thursday night when it faces the high-scoring Chicago Blackhawks for the second time this week.The Oilers’ three-game winning streak ended with Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Edmonton gave up three power-play goals in as many chances and has surrendered six man-advantage goals in 14 opportunities over the last three contests.Article continues below ...“Let’s hope it’s an anomaly,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday. “We won’t know until we play a few more games, but (the) penalty kill’s been leaking a little bit lately.”Chicago is 2 for 18 with the man advantage on the road this season.Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot (5-4-1, 2.81 goals-against average) shouldered the blame for the loss.“Penalty kill starts with the goalie. He’s got to be your best killer,” he said.While Edmonton has won four of six on the road in 2018-19 — and begins a four-game swing Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings — the club looks to improve on a 2-2-1 home record.“All the games at home have to be difficult. It doesn’t matter when we play them or we add emphasis to it,” McLellan said. “With Chicago, they’re a different type of team that present different problems. We’ll prepare Karl Alzner Jersey Womens , but we plan on making it difficult for every team coming in here.”Last Sunday, the Oilers erased an early deficit and defeated the Blackhawks 2-1 at the United Center on Connor McDavid’s goal 53 seconds into overtime. Chicago is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for most goals this season (43) after finishing tied for 21st in 2017-18 with 228.“We played them pretty tough on the road. We’re going to need to bring that road game home and play another good game against them here,” Talbot said.Chicago (6-4-3) has a quick turnaround after surrendering two third-period goals en route to its season-high third straight loss, 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.“I thought we were pretty good for 35 minutes there,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the team’s official website. “The last five minutes of the second there, we lost a little momentum in the game, but I thought we were playing how we wanted to play, and then tough to watch the third period.”Chicago was without Patrick Kane (illness) Joel Armia Jersey Womens , and his availability to face Edmonton is not immediately known. Kane and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins are tied for most goals in the league with 11.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is on the cusp of a milestone. After scoring against the Canucks, he needs one goal to become the sixth player in Original Six franchise’s history with 300 goals.Toews has 10 career goals in Edmonton, but hasn’t scored in five straight contests there dating back to November 2014.Chicago, which has surrendered 13 goals during its skid, is 0-1-2 in the second of back-to-back games this season.Corey Crawford made 24 saves Wednesday, but is still rounding into form after missing nearly a calendar year because of a concussion and may not play on consecutive nights.Cam Ward made 24 saves in the loss to the Oilers earlier in the week and is 2-3-2 with a 3.15 goals-against average, while Crawford is 4-2-0 with a 2.79 GAA during their respective careers playing in Edmonton.McDavid has goals in five straight games for the Oilers, matching the longest streak of his career set last March 22-29. But the two-time Art Ross Trophy winner has failed to score a goal in three career home games against the Hawks. DENVER (AP) Semyon Varlamov rescued Colorado’s struggling offense with a stellar performance against Montreal.Varlamov made 43 saves for his first victory in more than a month and the Avalanche matched the franchise record of 10 straight home wins Torey Krug Jersey , beating the Canadiens 2-0 on Wednesday night.Carl Soderberg and Alexander Kerfoot scored to help Colorado equal the longest home winning streak in franchise history, set in 1994-95 when the team was the Quebec Nordiques.Article continues below ...”It seems for us it’s harder to play the road these days,” Varlamov said. ”We’ve got to play like that on the road trips.”Antti Niemi stopped 23 shots for Montreal. The Canadiens are 8-17-1 on the road.”We didn’t find a way to put the puck in the net,” forward Brendan Gallagher said.Varlamov’s play had a lot to do with that problem. His last win came against Toronto on Dec. 29, and he left his next start against Winnipeg with a groin injury. He missed 10 games before returning against the Jets on Feb. 3.Wednesday was his fourth game since coming back and one of his best this year. He denied the Canadiens on several chances in the third for his second shutout of the season.”I didn’t love us tonight, but Varly comes up big and gets us a win,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”That’s what you need sometimes out of your goaltenders. He was really good, we get the win. That’s good; we needed the points.”The Avalanche moved within two points of Minnesota for the second wild card in the Western Conference. They’re keeping pace without leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon Womens Tuukka Rask Jersey , who has missed seven games with a left shoulder injury.Colorado has scored two or fewer goals in four of those games, including Wednesday night, but Varlamov made the two goals stand up. He was instrumental in Montreal going 0 for 4 on the power play, including 40 seconds with a two-man advantage in the second period.”I thought our power play could have won us the game and they weren’t good tonight,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. ”Our (penalty kill) did a great job tonight but our PP wasn’t good enough. When you’re looking to score goals your PP has to come up big, especially when you have a 5-on-3.”Colorado had more than two consecutive minutes of play in Montreal’s end early in the second period but didn’t score until Soderberg beat Niemi with a wraparound at 15:55.With Montreal pressing for the equalizer late in the third, Kerfoot scored at 16:58 to give the Avalanche a two-goal cushion.”I think I had the whole net there and it found a way to squeak in,” said Kerfoot Zdeno Chara Jersey , who has 14 goals in his rookie season. ”It was good that we got one at the end there.”NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the national anthems for the victims of the school shooting in Florida. … The Avalanche recalled Rocco Grimaldi from San Antonio of the AHL. MacKinnon, out since Jan. 30, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Grimaldi on the roster. … Montreal C Phillip Danault (concussion) is on the four-game trip but has not played since Jan. 13. … This was the 3,000th game in Quebec/Colorado franchise history, with 1,744 having been played since the team became the Avalanche in 1995. … Colorado LW Blake Comeau missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTCanadiens: At Arizona on Thursday night.Avalanche: At Winnipeg on Friday night.