Avalanche 5, Oilers 2
Stefan Elliott scored in his first NHL game as the Colorado Avalanche earned a much-needed 5-2 home win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
Elliott's landmark goal gave the Avalanche just their third win in 12 November games. It was also Colorado's first regulation victory over Edmonton in nine tries dating to February 2010.
Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes, Colorado struck for two goals in a two-minute span early in the third period. Shane O'Brien tied the score at 6:06, firing a shot that deflected off the glove of Edmonton's Anton Lander and beat Devan Dubnyk.
Elliott put the Avalanche ahead at 8:04, fluttering a shot from the point that somehow eluded Dubnyk. Jan Hejda made it three straight goals by defensemen, solving Dubnyk with another shot from the blue line with just 3:40 remaining.
Paul Stastny iced it with an empty-netter with less than two minutes remaining.
After Edmonton's Ladislav Smid and Colorado's Jay McClement traded first-period goals, Ryan Jones put the Oilers back in front early in the second. Edmonton's third line took advantage of an odd-man rush, with Jones pouncing on a rebound of an Eric Belanger shot and beating Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov.
Oilers left wing Taylor Hall, last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, suffered an apparent shoulder injury in the first period and did not return.