The Colorado Avalanche picked up a much needed victory on Saturday afternoon by defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, in in overtime shootout win. The Avalanche currently hold the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference Playoffs with 76 points, one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks.
After the Oilers' Ryan Smyth put the puck in the back of the Avalanche net late in the first period, Colorado had a 2-1 lead at the end of the second period following goals by Cody McLeod and Peter Mueller, each recording their sixth of the season.
And for nearly the next 26 minutes of the game, the Avalanche looked to have a 2-1 victory in hand. But the stick of Taylor Hall said no and proceeded to score his 25th goal of the season at 15:17 in the third period. The teams then went quietly through overtime to reach the shootout.
Milan Hejduk and Peter Mueller were the first two shooters for the Avalanche and they were able to penetrate Nikolai Khabibulin's wall in front of the net for two goals. Both Oilers shooters couldn't put one past Semyon Varlamov, giving the Avalanche the victory.
Colorado (36-30-4, 76 points) hos the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
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